For the Promise of Peace
by feeling brave
Summary: Last story in this series. I started all this to give my favourite characters a history, this is a look into their future. Warning for pairings, character death, occasionally foul-mouthed mechs and enough fluff to stuff cushions with in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note:** This story will go through the original movie, series three and beyond, but I'll be twisting the canon a little in places. As this is the last story in this series, and I'm hoping to tie up all the loose ends, I'll be more than happy to hear from anyone who wants to see a particular thing happen.

It's only fair to warn you all that I have nearly reduced myself tears with bits of this, so you might want to grab some tissues before you start reading, and I'm still beta-less so there maybe the odd error, I'm hoping that I've caught them all. I'm also well aware that other Authors have done this before, and probably done it better than me, but after all I've done to give my characters a back-story it seems only right to give them a future too, I only hope that I don't disappoint anyone. Enjoy. FB.

**For the Promise of Peace**

Chapter 1

As his second in command entered his office Optimus Prime paused in his work to gather himself together. Things hadn't gone his way for sometime; relocating over half his army to the moons of Cybertron had been a logistical nightmare, especially as his unit included the Dinobots, and the fact that several of his most trusted warriors seemed to be sulking for some reason didn't help either.

For the last few cycles only a select few dared go within 'wrench-range' of Ratchet, he didn't even want to think about Sunstreaker, and to cap it all Prowl, the most logical and rational of all mechs, had developed a stubborn streak a mile wide.

"The supply run is essential," he stated tiredly. He'd already tried to organise it already, but Prowl had knocked it back in favour of a raid on Decepticon energon stores, which had ended in disaster. Megatron's spies had warned the tyrant and nearly every mech on the mission had been forced to return to Earth for repairs, the only exceptions had been Ratchet who had miraculously escaped serious injury, and Jazz who should have gone but had refused point-blank to get on the shuttle, acquired the parts he needed from 'somewhere' and returned to duty.

"I'm well aware of that, but the Decepticons know that we're almost out of options," Prowl argued, "They know that energon is in short supply here, and it can't have escaped their notice that some of our soldiers are on Earth. They're expecting us to run there."

"The shuttle will be well guarded, our best warriors will go; Sunstreaker, Brawn, Ironhide and Grimlock," the Prime responded.

"And if they are intercepted and defeated we stand no chance at all in battle," Prowl retorted, "A smaller shuttle is less likely to be detected. Jazz and I can handle everything between us."

"Negative," Prime said dismissively, "Jazz is the only mech here that can make sense of the Comms, and you still have battle strategies to prepare."

"So let me go," Prowl snapped, his usual even tone slipped slightly and indicated his annoyance, "I can run the simulations en-route and relay them through Jazz."

Optimus Prime couldn't understand what had gotten into his tactician, Prowl was calm, Prowl was reasonable, but the mech stood in front of him didn't seem to be either. "Fine," he sighed, "Take Sunstreaker, Brawn, Ironhide and Ratchet with you,"

"I can do it alone," Prowl disagreed, "I'll start getting things ready."

"Repairs will be needed after the battle and Ratchet doesn't trust anyone else to retrieve all the parts he'll need, and if you are ambushed you'll need back up. That's an order Prowl; I'm done arguing with you."

"_Frag it, can't he see what I'm trying to do?"_ Prowl thought vehemently_. _"Sunstreaker stays here," he barked, "There's no sense in endangering anyone we don't have to," and with that the black and white turned on his heel and stormed out.

Jazz fell into step with him before he had taken two strides along the corridor, "I take it things went as you thought they would?" he asked sadly as he slid an arm around his lover's waist in attempt to calm the furious tactician.

"Pretty much," Prowl agreed, his mood softening in the presence of his bond-mate, "he's adamant about this energon run, and he's right, without the energy and the re-enforcements we don't stand a chance, and all our shuttles are here. Hopefully the autopilot will make it to Autobot City even if we don't. At least Sunstreaker will be staying."

Jazz nodded, "Sunny ain't going to like that, you know he's desperate to see Sides and Blue again."

"They'll be returning with the shuttle, he'll see them soon." Prowl stopped suddenly, his optics met the blue visor of his bond-mate as he steeled himself for what he had to say, "I love you my Jazz, I never said that enough…"

Jazz flinched, they had discussed what would probably happen well before Prowls latest meeting with their commander and accepted the consequences, but he had never stopped hoping that another alternative would present itself. "Neither of us did," he whispered, "but this ain't goodbye, it's one mission and one battle, one way or another we'll be together by the end."

Prowl nodded and bent his neck so that their helms touched, nothing was said for a moment as the pair of black and whites allowed their emotions to flow freely through their bond, _"Love you Prowl,"_ Jazz sent as he couldn't trust himself to say another word.

Prowl lifted Jazz' head back up with a tender touch, "Be brave my Jazz, it won't be long before we're together again," with the gentlest of kisses Prowl said the goodbye that neither of them could bring themselves to say and moved on.

Jazz watched him go for a moment before he too returned to his duties and forced the grin that everyone expected to see onto his face, there would be time for anger and retribution or joy and love later, but for the time being he had to be strong.

A few short minutes later he was back at the communications relay, he settled into his seat with a sorrowful sigh that he couldn't hold back and resumed his task of giving Prowl and the others the best chance he could.

His optimistic nature told him that there was a chance, but he knew it was slim. The Decepticons would be watching the same skies he was, and be expecting them to make a move, but there was nothing else that could be done.

Jazz found himself remembering one of the few chess games he had ever played with his lover, about halfway through the game Prowl had made a comment about his reckless style of play, "Once all your pieces are in play all you can do is trust and pray," he had replied, Prowl had laughed and the game had ended in a stalemate.

"_If we make it through this I'll play chess with you more often,"_ he thought as he watched the shuttle take off, _"I don't care if I lose, so long as I get to hear you laugh."_

Once his duties were done Jazz returned to his quarters, he was too restless to recharge and an almost constant data stream from Prowl that contained all the plans for the up coming battle would have kept him on-line anyway, but at least he was away from the others and he could let the mask slip.

With a grim expression that would have made his friends nervous he took out his weapons and started cleaning them. As he worked he opened the bond and allowed the gentle drone of Prowls thoughts to soothe his mood, he didn't listen hard, Prowl was busy, and trying to make sense of all the tactical data that he was relaying to the Moon Base's master computer would have sent his processor into a lock, but it was a lot better than oppressive silence.

"_JAZZ!"_ Prowls desperate voice shattered his concentration completely, he was on his feet before he realised that he wasn't the one being attacked, and in the next instant he was driven to his knees as the bond was ripped away. There could be no mistake; such a thing could only happen for one reason, Prowl, the love of his life, the mech that had completed him, was dead.

* * *

He had no sense of time, all he could do was keep his vents working and allow the sorrow to flow through him. Without Prowl there was no point, no reason to live, except for his duty.

After what seemed like an age one thought emerged and engulfed all others,_ One more battle,_ the finality thought calmed him, and he hauled himself to his feet. "Primus, I ask you to care for the mech I love until I can join him, let him know the peace that we fought for." with his brief prayer said he turned to face his mirror, "One more battle," he told his reflection, "I'll see my friends safe, then I'm done."

The saboteur left his quarters and headed back to the control room, the base was eerily quiet and only Cliffjumper was in the command centre, "Where is everyone?" the black and white asked.

"Earth by now," Cliffjumper answered, "Blaster sent out a mayday. Prime tried to rouse you but didn't get an answer and there was no time to waste, so now it's just us."

With a heavy sigh Jazz sat down at his console again, a brief thought flickered through his processor, _how much has changed since I last sat here? _Before another question surfaced and eclipsed it, "Cliffjumper!" he called, "What's that?"

The red minibot peered over his shoulder, "No clue," he admitted.

Whatever it was, it was huge, almost the size of the moon they had called home for the last couple of months, moving at a tremendous speed and apparently on a premeditated course, "Where'd that thing come from?" the saboteur asked.

"Who cares?" Cliffjumper muttered, "I'm more worried about where it's going," and he gave the diagnostic equipment a swift kick as it refused to give a satisfactory explanation.

_Percussive maintenance,_ Jazz thought idly,_ Perceptor would be proud, _but as the thing grew closer he couldn't help but think thatwhatever was heading for them was certainly not in any of Prowls plans.

"We have to call the others back," Cliffjumper stated, "We can't do much alone."

The saboteur nodded and schooled his vocaliser into what he hoped would pass for his usual optimistic tone, "Talk to me Earth, we got a situation up here," for a moment there was no response, "Roger me, wilco me, hello, hello Earth. This is Jazz. A ginormous, weird lookin' planet just showed up in the suburbs of Cybertron…"

"And it's attacking Moonbase One," Cliffjumper interrupted as the deafening shriek of metal on metal reached their audios.

Any response from the earthbound Autobots was lost in the din and without looking at each other the two mechs turned and ran.

The last shuttle was their only chance and they both did the best they could, but their struggle was futile and as the small craft was engulfed by the monster oblivion claimed them.

* * *

He came back on-line slowly, becoming aware of the sense of loss first, before the dents and scrapes, the fear and the worry was the simple, broken emotion of being alone.

_How do I carry on without you?_ He thought, but he knew that his partner wouldn't answer, _you are my world, my happiness, my Prowl. How can I live in a world that you aren't part of?_

Through the agony a memory surfaced, a moment that already seemed a lifetime ago, a gentle embrace, Prowls optics bright with pent up emotion and clear blue as the cloudless Earth sky, and his earnest voice, "Be brave my Jazz."

"Jazz!" another, less gentle voice echoed, "Jazz!"

_Somehow I doubt that this is what you had in mind Prowl, _he thought, _but here goes nothin'._

He forced himself back into the lonely world and looked up at Spikes worried face.

Spike let out a relieved sigh, "We were starting to think that you weren't going to wake up," he admitted, "We checked you for damage, but couldn't find anything too serious."

"Nothin' to find," the saboteur snapped, "Where are we?"

"The belly of the beast," Spike answered dramatically, "We've already been attacked by… claws I guess but that doesn't really do them justice. Bumblebee and Cliffjumper managed to drag you in here and we seem to have given them the slip, but we're a long way off safe."

As Spike brought him up to speed the two minibots returned from what he guessed had been a quick re-con mission, "It doesn't look good," Bumblebee muttered as he sank back against a wall, "We've got no comms, minimal weapons, no energon and those claw things are everywhere."

"Energon and weapons I can help with," the saboteur informed the yellow minibot, he snatched a couple of emergency rations and pistols out of his subspace and handed them out.

"Thanks," Cliffjumper said in a slightly surprised tone, "But how…?"

"I was a boy scout in a previous life," the black and white answered sarcastically, "Special Ops, remember?"

Cliffjumper smiled sheepishly, downed his ration and checked the pistol, "What about you?"

"I'll get by," he answered.

"If you go into stasis again Bumblebee and I can't carry you far," Cliffjumper snapped, "Drink!"

Reluctantly he brought out another ration and did as he was told.

"Any ideas?" Bumblebee asked.

"If we can get to the outer hull I should be able to make us an exit," he answered.

"Jazz, Bumblebee and I blew up Moonbase Two and didn't even make a dent," Spike informed him.

"Got to be a weak spot somewhere," the saboteur countered, "Nothin's indestructible,"

Spike eyed him dubiously but nodded.

The black and white unspaced a considerable hoard of Wheeljack's best explosives, and quickly divided them into three piles before pushing two of them towards Bumblebee and Cliffjumper, "Gives you a chance if somethin' happens to me," he explained.

"We don't stand much of a chance without you," Bumblebee said matter of factly, "'Jumper and I will fight to our last but you've got better weapons and scanners than both of us."

"Better some of us than none of us," the visored mech answered flatly before he hauled himself to his feet and took point.

For a few minutes the four friends walked in silence, each of them looked around and tried to work out how much of a chance they actually had, _looks like I'll be with you soon Prowl,_ he thought grimly.

"What's going on Jazz?" Spike asked when the silence became unbearable.

For a moment the saboteur just looked at him and couldn't help being reminded of a young mech who never knew when to keep his mouth shut, _please let Blue be safe,_ he thought, "I'm fine," he answered.

"You've been sullen and distant since you came back online and that's not like you." Spike persisted.

_Time to drop another bombshell,_ Jazz thought, and he fought to keep his voice even as he spoke the words that he had feared more than any others since the war had begun, "Prowl's dead."

"What!?" Bumblebee blurted out, "When? How?"

"What about Brawn and the others?" Cliffjumper demanded to know.

Reluctantly Jazz recalled the last moment before his bond had been torn away, there was no way to keep Prowl's emotions out of the memory and he almost lost control of his own systems as the scene unfolded, Prowl's fear, anger and regret almost burned away the last of his already depleted determination, but he pulled himself back and focused on his friends, they needed answers and he was the only one who could give them.

"The shuttle was ambushed," he informed them in a near whisper, "and I'm sorry. Prowl was relaying tactical data to me, and Brawn was gone before he realised what was happening, there was nothing he could do. Ratch and 'Hide were alive when Prowl…" he couldn't say the word so he skipped it out, "but I don't know if they made it."

"We can hope," Spike said with forced optimism, "I'm sorry for your loss Jazz," he added quickly, "I know this must be hard for you but please try to remember that we stand a better chance with you."

_Try impossible,_ the saboteur thought brokenly.

"No one could have known this would happen," he heard Bumblebee say as he pushed his grief aside again.

"Prowl knew," he said quietly. Suddenly he was furious at the unfairness of it all, but he hid his feelings as best he could and used them to keep himself going. His statement earned him shocked looks from the other three, "He knew the shuttle mission was almost certainly doomed as soon as Prime mentioned it."

"Then why did he take it?" Bumblebee asked.

"So that other mechs wouldn't have to," he answered shortly, "Prowl and I have lived long and happy lives together, there are others that deserve that chance."

"You mean Blue and Sunstreaker," Bumblebee guessed.

The black and white nodded, "But don't you dare tell them," he warned, "Sunny would use my armour as a chew-toy if he found out, and I dread to think what it would do to Blue."

Bumblebee agreed, "I'll make you a deal, if we get out of this I'll never tell a soul."

"We can hash out the finer points of that arrangement later," the saboteur nodded, "We got incoming." He turned to face the threat that his scanners had picked up and gasped, Spike had been right; the word 'claws' didn't do those things justice, but he didn't have time to think much more than that before he opened fire.

Despite their best efforts the same group were soon surrounded, and caught in a tangle that seemed inescapable, _I'm done,_ the black and white thought grimly, _I can't…_he watched in horror as the almost snake like bonds tightened around Spike and started to crush his Exosuit,_ but if I give up what happens to them? How can I go into the Matrix knowing that I left my friends in danger? Oh Prowl, I'm sorry._

With an agonised, defiant scream Jazz wrenched his weapon hand free and fired at the vicious restraints. He got lucky, the claws fell back and they ran. Jazz felt as if his spark might shatter with every footfall, and he didn't get far before the pain of it drove him to his knees.

"Jazz!" Spike shouted to alert the others to his distress, and before he could push his emotions down again his friends surrounded him.

"Where are you hurt?" Cliffjumper demanded to know.

"It ain't that," Jazz forced himself to say, "I couldn't…" he broke off, not knowing how to explain what he had done, _Prowl, forgive me,_ his processor begged. "I just need a minute," he said aloud.

"You seem to have one," Spike assured him, "Those things aren't following us. Jazz, thank you, we'd be dead if it wasn't for you."

Jazz smiled weakly, his friends were safe for the moment and that was some comfort to him, but he couldn't help regretting what they had cost him, he'd never felt so alone in his life.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: (because I forgot to put it on the last chapter...oops) I don't own Transformers, any of quotes, or any of the plot-lines that I've borrowed from TF:TM or later episodes. I'm just playing with them and I will dust them off before I put them back.

Author's notes: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and if you didn't thanks for continuing to read, I'll admit that I was half expecting to find my e-mail box full of angry "you killed Prowl!" letters, but thankfully I didn't, not yet anyway, there's still time, and a few more deaths to come, sorry, I don't like it any more than you do.

To save any confusion Sunstreaker appears twice in TF:TM, first on Earth putting up a roadblock, and second on Prime's shuttle heading to Earth (silly animators), and a mech that _might _be Sideswipe is lying face down on the floor of the room that Arcee is dragging Wheeljacks body through, so for the sake of this fic, and my sanity, it's Sideswipe who is on Earth and Sunstreaker on the shuttle.

Oh, just to remind everyone because it was a while back now, towards the end of The Price we Pay Bluestreak decided that he didn't want to be just a soldier for the rest of his life, and at some point between this story and the last one he started learning to be an engineer, hopefully that explains some of his behaviour in this and later chapters. My lil'Blue's all grown up.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

With a lazy grin Sideswipe watched as Hot Rod shot through the roadblock he and the others had just set up, it had taken far longer than it should have done as Kup refused to let them just dump it and go, it had to be perfectly positioned and a moment later it had been reduced to splinters, _kid shows promise,_ he thought, _I couldn't have timed that better myself._

Kup of course was spitting fury, but Sideswipe didn't much care, in his opinion things had been far too serious in Autobot City for some time.

He glanced over at Bluestreak, the grey mech was hiding a smile of his own by watching Hot Rod speed off, "The shuttle's coming in," he announced cheerfully.

Sideswipes attention snapped up, and there it was, "'Bout time," he smiled, "won't be long now Ratch, so long as a certain grumpy old mech lets me go," he added with a sideways glance to Kup, who was still cursing Hot Rod and his makers.

"Do you think he'd notice if we just left?" Hound asked good-naturedly as he finally finished extracting Huffer from what had, less than a minute ago, been a roadblock.

"I doubt he'd notice if we painted him pink and started calling him Elita One," Bluestreak muttered, and Sideswipe flashed his occasional partner-in-crime a conspiratorial grin.

"What's that darn fool doing?" Kup asked in a tone that implied that Hot Rod had finally fried his processor, and Sideswipe looked up in the hope of more entertainment, but his expectant smile dropped off his faceplates in an instant, Hot Rod was shooting at the shuttle.

"I'm going to feed that punk to Devastator next chance I get," Sideswipe hissed.

"Sideswipe!" Bluestreak cried, "Look! The shuttle's shooting back."

"All of you back to the city!" Kup barked, "NOW!"

For once Sideswipe didn't hesitate to obey his orders, not because they were what he wanted to do, but because his processor was so full of worry for Ratchet that he couldn't think of anything any other options, and that was why he didn't see the Decepticons pour out of the shuttle and attack.

The first he knew was a flash of laser fire that missed his flank by inches, and a sickening crunch behind him. He was back in his robotic mode before he knew what he was doing, his feet barely touched the ground before his jet-pack powered him into the sky where he quickly took care of the Decepticons that had dared to attack his friends.

By the time he landed again Bluestreak and Hound were crouched over Huffer, the young gunner looked up at him and shook his head, "He's gone," he said weakly.

"Easy now Blue," Sideswipe soothed him, he'd promised his brother that he would look after the Datsun and he meant to keep that promise, "You did all you could."

Hound stood up but his optics never left the small, greying body, "We can't carry him," he said flatly, "but we can't leave him here. There's a cave just off the track, do you think he'll be okay there?"

Sideswipe nodded dumbly, and watched as the green mech lifted the minibot and carried him away before he looked down at Bluestreak.

"I wish Sunny was here," the young gunner said quietly.

"Me too Blue, me too," Sideswipe murmured, "But he's safe, and he'll come for us," he continued, only a few hours before he had listened to his brother pitch the mother of all hissy fits down the comms after Prowl had informed him that he would not be on the shuttle that was heading to Earth.

Sideswipe had been furious too, he and his twin were never meant to be apart, and the last few weeks had been hell on both of them, but as he pulled Bluestreak into his arms to comfort his brothers partner he couldn't help thinking that Prowl had probably saved his brothers life by keeping him on the Moonbase, _did you know this was coming Prowl?_ He thought, _and if you did, why didn't you make Ratchet stay too?_

"It's done," Hound informed them as he rejoined them, "Let's roll,"

Sideswipe followed the Jeep without a word, he was lost in his own thoughts again, and he couldn't find a cheerful one among them.

Finally the huge gates of Autobot City opened before them and they all transformed back to their mech forms once more, "Hello Hound," a smooth voice said close to the green mechs audio and Hound jumped a couple of feet to his left.

"Primus 'Raj, don't do that," the scout scolded him.

"My apologies," Mirage said warmly as the air wavered and he came into sight, "But you seemed so preoccupied that I couldn't resist, it's not often I get the chance to sneak up on you."

"You picked a hell of a time to develop a sense of humour," Sideswipe muttered.

Mirage smiled smugly, "It's amazing what a few days leave and good company can do for a mech," he explained, "Wheeljack and I got back less than an hour ago."

"And the city's already on fire," Inferno said gruffly as he joined the small group of mechs, "That's got to be a record, even for him."

"It isn't his fault this time," Mirage stated.

"We have more important things to do than stand around comparing notes on explosions, Wheeljack's or not," Sideswipe snapped angrily, he wasn't sure where his fury had come from, but he couldn't help thinking that it felt better than the despair that had been threatening to overwhelm him.

"It's just a few 'Cons," Inferno drawled, "We'll soon send 'em packing."

"It's not just a few 'Cons," Sideswipe raged, "It's all of them…" he was stopped by Bluestreaks calming hand on his shoulder.

"They don't know," the young gunner said softly, his tone drew the attention of the spy and the fire truck.

Sideswipe wrapped an arm around Bluestreaks shoulders.

"What's going on?" Inferno asked somehow managing to sound curious, worried and suspicious all at the same time.

"The shuttle is down somewhere to the west, Primus alone knows what happened to the mechs aboard it and…" Bluestreak said in a rush but he stalled at the end.

"And Huffer's dead," Hound finished.

"Primus," Mirage muttered, his good mood gone in an instant, "I'm sorry," he continued weakly.

"We'll mourn him later," Bluestreak said firmly, and suddenly sounding more like Prowl than he ever had before, "For now we have to concentrate on the present, get to our posts."

Sideswipe looked vaguely surprised at the younger mech, Bluestreak wasn't in the habit of giving orders but apparently he was good at it, and the small group scattered.

"You okay Blue?" he asked as they headed deeper into the city.

"No," the younger mech answered truthfully, "There's too many questions, too many variables, and I don't understand any of it, I never did."

"You've been spending far too much time with the geek squad," Sideswipe muttered as they hurried on.

"Give me some good news 'Jack," Bluestreak demanded as they burst into one of the gun turrets.

"Mirage and I had a lovely vacation," Wheeljack dead-panned, "But that's about all I got, the sky's full of 'Cons and if I can't get this ballista working in two minutes Magnus is going to fry his processor, did you get any work done while I was away?"

"Some, but Kup press-ganged into fixing his stupid roadblock this morning, like that was going to help us if we were attacked, most Decepticons don't even use roads."

Wheeljack chuckled, it seemed that nothing was going to spoil his good mood, _must have been some holiday,_ Bluestreak mused as he reached into the toolbox, grabbed a wrench and started work without waiting for instructions.

Sideswipe stood back and watched, he couldn't help wishing that he had taken sometime to learn a few new skills like Bluestreak had, but Wheeljack seemed to have other ideas and soon had him fetching and carrying.

"Is it ready yet?" Windcharger asked as he barged in, "Magnus sent me, comms are down," he explained quickly when Bluestreak shot him a questioning look.

"It's as ready as it's ever going to get," Wheeljack assured him, "Sides, get the shells,"

Nothing was said for a while after that, every mech was focused on his job and there was no time for chatter, but with the ballista working the battle seemed to be going their way until a particularly potent air strike engulfed the room in flame.

* * *

"Ouch," Bluestreak thought hazily, "That was unpleasant," it took a long moment to reboot enough of his systems to process any more intelligent thoughts, but when they did come the young mech wished they hadn't.

He was painfully pinned to a wall by the ballista, which had apparently saved him from the worst of the blast, but other mechs in the room hadn't been so lucky. Sideswipe was laying a few meters away and Bluestreak was sure that he'd never seen the red warrior in such terrible shape, but at least he could pick up life signs from his friend, the same could not be said for the other mechs.

Windcharger had landed near one of the shell storage containers, which had been detonated by the original explosion and Wheeljacks crumpled body was twisted into horrifying angles.

Bluestreak offlined his optics, and forced his vents to keep working but the stink of burned fuel that filled the room did nothing to ease his grief or fear.

"Hold on Bluestreak, I think I can get you out," a soft voice said close to his audio and he looked up to see Arcee standing over him.

"Where did you come from?" he asked, he knew the question was stupid and inconsequential, but it was the only thing that he could think of saying that didn't draw his attention to the devastation that surrounded him.

"Magnus sent me up when you stopped firing," the femme explained quickly, "Are you hurt?"

"I've been worse," Bluestreak answered, but that was probably a lie, in the last hour he had been with three mechs that had died and Primus alone knew what had happened to the mechs he loved aboard the shuttle, but one question drummed through his processor harder than any other no matter how hard he tried to think of something else, _why didn't Jazz warn us?_

"Get Sideswipe to medical," Arcee ordered before she lowered her voice to a softer tone and added, "I'll look after the others."

Bluestreak nodded gratefully and reached for the red twin, who was just starting to come back on-line, "Did we win?" he asked groggily.

"Not yet," Bluestreak told him gently, "But we can't do anymore here."

"Time for some action then?" the red twin said with an eager tone.

"Sure Sides," Bluestreak agreed, he couldn't find it in his spark to tell the red warrior that he was in no shape for battle and he led his friend away from the room without another word.

Unfortunately for the two battered mechs the med-bay was halfway across the complex, and with the battle raging there was simply no safe route to get to it. The only bonus they had was that once Sideswipe was coherent enough to realise why Wheeljack and Windcharger weren't with them he flew into a rage, and in spite of the damage he had taken his fury fuelled him through the first three skirmishes they encountered and for more than half the distance they had to travel.

After that he grew quiet except for the occasional mumble of, "Sunny's coming," that Bluestreak knew was more for his benefit than anyone else's.

A very battered and angry looking Smokescreen approached them as they picked their way across a rubble strewn courtyard, "Have you seen Mirage?" he demanded.

"Not since before the battle started," Bluestreak answered him, "Why?"

"He's not at his post, I heard him scream and went to check on him, but he'd disappeared, no sign of a struggle, but he left his rifle behind."

"We'll keep an optic open for him," Sideswipe assured the blue and red mech, "He might be in the med-bay, and that's where we're headed."

Smokescreen nodded and moved off.

"If we do see him we're going to have some bad news for him," Bluestreak said miserably, "they seemed so happy earlier."

"Primus," Sideswipe cursed, "I hadn't even thought about..." he trailed off as he became aware of a terrifying crashing sound that came from somewhere above them. "Blue! Get down!" he yelled as he grabbed the gunner and tried to dive for an already toppled wall, which was the only cover he could see, a tidal wave of debris rained down on their flimsy shelter and slammed into their already damaged bodies.

Neither 'bot knew that their last thought before emergency stasis claimed them was the same name, "Sunstreaker."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

As the shuttle made its final approach to land at Autobot City Sunstreaker felt his spark lurch, he had expected chaos but not the smoking ruin below him, and his systems almost stalled at the thought that somewhere in the debris were the two mechs that meant everything to him.

His optics narrowed as he looked at Optimus Prime, it had been his idea to send Bluestreak and Sideswipe back to Earth, both of them been badly damaged during a fight with the Decepticons a few weeks before, and it had been decided that Moonbase One was not a safe place for them to recover.

He could already feel Sideswipe's half of their shared spark pulling at his, begging to be found, but Bluestreak was out there too and he had no way to find his lover.

At the base of the boarding ramp Hound stood watching Optimus as their leader headed out to find his nemesis before turning to look at Sunstreaker.

"What happened here?" the golden twin asked.

"Nothing good," Hound said sadly, "The 'Cons took us by surprise, I was out putting up a roadblock with Blue, Sides and Huffer when they attacked, on Kups orders we headed back to the city, last I saw of Blue and Sides they were still together and safe but Huffer… wasn't fast enough."

The distress in the green mechs voice was enough to cause a wave of sadness in Sunstreaker, he may not have liked Huffer but he hadn't wanted him to die, "I can always find Sideswipe," he said as he steeled himself, "You coming?"

Hound nodded and followed obediently until a sudden blast filled the air around them with flame and debris, "Sunny, get down!" the scout screamed, frantically knocking the golden warrior to the ground.

"You can get off me now," Sunstreaker growled once it was safe, but the only answer was a low, pain-filled moan, "Hound?" he peered over his own shoulder into the other mechs faceplate, Hounds optics were dim with agony and there seemed to be energon everywhere, "Oh Primus," he whispered.

"Blue and Sides," Hound murmured, "I just picked them up on my scanners and they are together."

"Thank you," Sunstreaker said solemnly.

"Sunny do me a favour," Hound requested in a voice thick with static, "Tell 'Breaker that I'm sorry," with those last words Hounds optics flickered out and his body fell limp.

"I will," Sunstreaker said softly to the mech that could no longer hear him, "I hope you find peace."

With an effort he pulled himself out from under the still body and started moving again without thinking where he was going, all he could see was the line between Sideswipe and himself.

It took time working around impassable rubble and other obstacles, but eventually he reached the right place and started digging. He hadn't even realised that the sun was starting to set until he heard a noise behind him and turned half expecting to find a Decepticon, but hoping that it would be someone who could help him.

"Inferno," he smiled with relief as he realised who it was. "Please, it's Sideswipe, and hopefully Bluestreak."

The big red mech didn't need anything else before he started hauling slabs of battered metal away. It took both of them to pull away the last panel but under it was their reward.

Sideswipe lay curled tight around Bluestreak to shield him. In spite of the usual tight control he kept on his emotions Sunstreaker let out a sob of pure relief, both mechs were off-line but they were alive.

Gently they extracted them from the debris. "Where's the med-bay?" he asked.

"I'll take you there." Inferno whispered, and with Bluestreak safely in his arms Sunstreaker followed him obediently.

Set deep in the citadel the med-bay was well protected and more or less intact. First Aid was hard at work with his brothers running around and doing as much as they could to help, the injured were everywhere; energon and coolant smeared the floor, discarded parts piled in the corners and it was all Sunstreaker could do to keep himself from purging his tanks at the sight of it.

"Primus have mercy," the yellow warrior whispered.

"Not today," Inferno informed him in a voice that sounded as if his spark might shatter at any moment, "Today we paid for each and every one our sins in full."

First Aid rushed up, his visor and facemask made it all but impossible to tell his mood but Sunstreaker could see the exhaustion, concern and sorrow in his movements as he looked over his newest patients. "Streetwise!" he barked. "Put Bluestreak in stasis, I'll get to him as soon as I can. Hot Spot, set up an energon feeder and help me with Sideswipe. Sunstreaker I hate to say this but the best thing you can do is clear out."

"I can help," Sunstreaker said firmly. "I know enough about internal systems to know what goes where and you need every pair of hands you can get."

"Fine, you're in," First Aid relented. "But you stay out of my way and if you can't deal, you don't try, got that?"

"Yes Sir," Sunstreaker agreed. He didn't know the young Protectobot well, but the fact that he wasn't curled up in a corner somewhere or purging his tanks earned Sunstreakers respect.

The next mech he saw was Trailbreaker, and the anguished look on the black mechs faceplates told him that he already knew about Hound. His spark seemed to miss a pulse as he remembered the scouts last few words. He approached the bulky mech sombrely and gingerly put a hand on his shoulder.

"I was here the whole time," Trailbreaker whispered, "Using my force-field to keep the med-bay whole, to protect those who couldn't protect themselves, but I couldn't do anything for him."

"You did what had to be done," Sunstreaker said, but he knew it wasn't enough, "Hound saved my life but I couldn't return the favour, before he… he asked me to tell you he was sorry, his last thoughts were of you."

Trailbreaker visor flickered as he looked at the golden twin, "Thank you," he said genuinely before he turned away and left the med-bay without a backwards glance.

For the rest of the night Sunstreaker worked tirelessly, he knew that he wouldn't be able to recharge so he figured that he might as well be useful.

As he worked it occurred to him that there was something else he could do, something Sideswipe had once done for him, tentatively he reached into their bond, it hurt but he ignored the pain, and concentrated on supporting his twin, willing him to be strong, and soothing him as best he could.

Sunstreaker knew that he had helped before he heard First Aid speak, but it was still a relief to hear the words, "He's stable, get him into stasis."

* * *

Late the following morning Blaster and Inferno stumbled in with a stretcher between them, a tarpaulin covered the whole body and Sunstreaker knew that the mech under it was dead.

First Aid stopped instantly. "Did any of them…?" he faltered. Sunstreaker couldn't blame him; he couldn't have finished that question either.

Blaster shook his head mournfully.

"So that's ten all told. We're probably lucky that it wasn't more."

The golden twin stiffened, he'd been too absorbed by worry for his lover and brother to take notice of anything that wasn't right in front of him.

Inferno rounded on the medic instantly, "You don't get to say that," he bawled. "Who did you lose Aid? Who?" caught off guard First Aid didn't have time to react before Inferno grabbed him.

Sunstreaker and Blaster stepped in as one, "Ease off Inferno," the communications officer ordered. "Everyone lost someone yesterday, I know you're hurtin' but so is everyone else."

"I lost the mechs who taught me everything I know," First Aid whispered.

Sunstreakers attention snapped to him, "Wheeljack and Ratchet?"

The medic nodded and Sunstreaker suddenly felt as if he was falling and no one was there to catch him, "Who else?"

"Ironhide, Brawn, Windcharger, Huffer, Red Alert, Hound, Prowl and Prime," Blaster answered when the medic failed to, "I'm sorry. I know you were close to some of them."

"Prowl," Sunstreaker repeated numbly, "Has anyone spoken to Jazz?"

"Briefly earlier," Blaster informed him. "He sent out a mayday when something started attacking the Moonbases."

"What?" the golden warrior demanded, he'd heard nothing of another attack until that moment, he knew that the Moonbases had been left undermanned, and that the mechs up there stood little chance if it was anything more than a few Decepticons blowing off steam.

"We don't know anymore than that, Ultra Magnus has taken a team to investigate, I'm waiting on his report."

"When you hear from Jazz, tell him that I want to talk to him," Sunstreaker requested, out of all the survivors he was one of few who understood the price of bonding. His own lover had refused to take that step with him so as not to endanger his life, and he knew of several other couples who had arrived at the same decision, but Jazz and Prowl had bonded before the war had begun, lived their lives as two halves of one entity, Sunstreaker had both admired and envied their relationship but in that moment he found himself praying that Prowls deactivation had not doomed Jazz too.

As he moved back to his work he found his thoughts turning to Ratchet, the medic had jumped at the chance to return to Earth to see Sideswipe, even for only a few hours, he knew that despite the medics heavy workload Ratchet had been devoted to his brother, that Sideswipe had adored the C.M.O. and the realisation that such love had been stolen away horrified him.

Sunstreaker didn't stay in the med-bay much longer, Ratchet had never used it but somehow the whole room suddenly seemed to be filled with the medic's presence.

* * *

Days passed Sunstreaker by in a haze of misery, the few mechs that dared talk talk to him told him that Hot Rod had become their new Prime and that although Cybertron had suffered a brutal attack from a monster named Unicron peace had been proclaimed, but with most of the 'bots he cared for either dead or in stasis there seemed little to celebrate. His wallowing was finally broken when he received a quick comm from Blaster telling him that he had a call for him, and by the time he reached the view-screen Jazz was waiting for him.

"Hey Sunny, how's Earth?" the saboteur asked, but the golden twin noticed that Jazz' usually natural optimism was horribly forced, and that his friend looked terrible, his paint was scratched, his armour dented and there was a crack in his visor.

Sunstreaker slumped, "Hard work," he admitted, "The 'Cons made a real mess here and it's gonna take time to get it back to right again."

"Blue and Sides?" Jazz asked with concern.

"Both in stasis, but they'll be fine."

Jazz seemed to breath a sigh of relief, "That's good," he muttered, "When I heard that you wanted to talk to me… I feared the worst."

"It was you that I was worried about," the golden twin stated, "To make sure…"

"Sunstreaker, stop," the saboteur interrupted.

"Huh?"

"I already know where this is going and I can't go through it again, so I'm asking you to do me a favour and not ask me any questions yet."

"It may surprise you to know that you are one of the few 'bots left that I actually give a frag about," Sunstreaker snapped, "And you look like scrap."

"It's all external damage," Jazz informed him, "clearing the mess Unicron made hasn't left much time for vanity, but I do understand Sunny, you're one of few who knows what a bond really means."

"I do," Sunstreaker agreed, "and just so you know, you don't have to lie to me and say you're okay, I'm betting that you're telling everyone that you're fine, just like you always do, but it might do you some good to tell the truth for once."

The black and white shook his head sadly, "If I do that I won't be able to stop," he admitted, "If I slip once I'm done, I know it. For now I need to keep busy and the best place for me is here. When Blue wakes up can you tell him that I'm sorry, but I can't come back to Earth yet. If he wants to talk I can be reached on this line at any time, and that goes for you and Sides too."

"Sure thing," Sunstreaker nodded, "We'll speak again soon," he added before he signed off. Internally he was furious with the older mech for staying away, with Prowl gone Bluestreak would look to Jazz for support more than ever, but he knew he couldn't say anything, it would only make Jazz feel worse and he didn't dare to try to imagine how terrible the saboteur felt already.

* * *

The following day First Aid called Sunstreaker into medical, Bluestreak was back on-line and the parts Sideswipe had been waiting for had arrived so he would soon be coming out of stasis too.

"Hey Blue," Sunstreaker greeted his lover softly and traced the line of his lover's jaw, it was the first time in days he had voluntarily touched anyone and that simple point of contact felt like a huge relief to him.

"Sunny?" Bluestreak asked feebly, "You're really here," the younger mech smiled in spite of the discomfort he was obviously still in.

"I am," the golden twin reassured him, "And I'm never leaving you again."

Bluestreaks smile widened before a thought occurred to him and it faded completely, "I don't remember much," he admitted, "what happened?"

"The Decepticons attacked in force, you weren't prepared, there were a lot of casualties, that was nearly a week ago and there are still a few mechs in stasis."

"The shuttle," Bluestreak whispered as his optics widened in horror, "I saw it coming in… the 'cons used our shuttle. Prowl? Ratchet?" he asked desperately.

Sunstreaker shook his head sorrowfully, unable to find the words, the grief he had suffered was suddenly becoming too much for him, and he felt his old rage rising.

Bluestreak recognised the anger in his face immediately and bravely buried his own sorrow so that he could be strong for his lover, "This isn't the time Sunny," he said soothingly, "Please hold on."

"I've spoken to Jazz," Sunstreaker informed the younger mech as he battled down his emotions, "He's surviving somehow, just, he isn't coming back yet, I guess Earth has too many memories for him."

"And other things," Bluestreak said knowingly, "But they're not for me to say, he'll tell you when he's ready, if he ever is."

Sunstreaker gave his partner a considering look, wondering what Bluestreak knew but couldn't tell, but he knew it was useless, the young mech could be as stubborn as any of them when he wanted to be.

"Sunstreaker," First Aid called hesitantly, "I don't mean to interrupt but Sideswipe will be coming back on-line in a moment."

"Go to him Sunny," Bluestreak prompted him softly, "He needs you."

Sunstreaker squeezed the grey mechs hand and moved to another berth just in time to see Sideswipes optics begin to glow, "I'm right here Sides," he murmured as he took his hand, "It's okay."

"Sunny," his brother grinned, "I knew you'd come back for us. Where's Ratchet?"

Sunstreakers intakes stalled at the question, he'd known that it would come, dreaded it, but hadn't expected it so soon, "He's gone Sides, the shuttle was ambushed, no one made it," he felt the agony from his twins spark instantly, and desperately wished that he could take it away.

"And Bluestreak?" he heard his brother ask and he forced himself to concentrate.

"Right here," the younger mech answered from his berth, "and fine, thanks to you,"

"That's good," Sideswipe nodded before he looked at his brother again, "Sunny I need you to do something for me."

"Anything," Sunstreaker said sincerely.

"Once Blue's well enough, stop wasting time and for the love of Primus bond him."

Sunstreaker stared at his twin for a long moment, it wasn't just his words that made him pause but the shear depth of emotion that he felt through their bond, there was so much sorrow but his brother was finding the inner-strength to look to the future, "Sides," he murmured.

"I mean it," the red twin snapped, he forced himself to sit up and glared at them both, "You're the lucky ones, you have a chance to be happy, take it. I'm the reason why you haven't done it already, and I'm telling you that I don't matter anymore," his intakes hitched as his emotions surged beyond his control and he muttered, "I've got nothing left to lose, except you two,"

"Easy Sides," Sunstreaker soothed his brother as he wrapped his arms around him, "Calm down,"

"When did you become the one who says 'calm down'?" Sideswipe hissed, "You're not the one who just lost everything."

"And you're not the one who died," Sunstreaker retorted, "You're everything to Blue and I, we'd be lost without you,"

"He's right," Bluestreak put in, "We're in this together, and that's how we'll get through it."

Sideswipe nodded and forced himself to smile, but Sunstreaker didn't need the bond to know that his twin was close to breaking.

* * *

Two days later Bluestreak and Sideswipe were finally allowed out of the med-bay, and the three mechs moved into a large suite of quarters that Bluestreak couldn't help thinking were Ultra Magnus' way of saying sorry for everything they had lost.

"I don't know what we're going to do with all this space," Sunstreaker said as they stepped inside for the first time.

"Me neither," Bluestreak agreed, "but I think it's time I called Jazz," he hated to admit that he'd been putting their chat off, part of him wanted to talk to his oldest friend more than anything, but another part was afraid that he'd say the wrong thing and make things worse for both of them.

He activated the comm, and a moment later Jazz' face appeared, "Bluestreak," he said in a relieved tone, "Thank Primus you're alright," he greeted the younger mech.

Sunstreaker frowned, Jazz didn't look much better than he had when they had last spoken, _but doesn't sound as bad, _he mused, _which probably means that his acting's improving._

Bluestreak shrugged, "How are you?," he asked.

Jazz sighed and leant back slightly allowing Bluestreak to see that the room behind him was dark.

"Did I wake you?" Bluestreak asked.

"No, I literally walked in the door as the comm sounded," Jazz explained, "I've been helping to round up the stray 'Cons, most of them fled the planet when Unicron attacked, but a few didn't, or couldn't."

"Anyone I should worry about?" Bluestreak asked.

Jazz shook his head, "Shockwave was killed in the attack," he said flatly, "Most of the ones we catch are asking for personality reassignment or asylum."

"That's good," Bluestreak said quietly.

"It is," Jazz agreed, "But I only stopped by to pick something up and I gotta get back, see you soon Blue, take care."

"You too," Bluestreak murmured as the link was cut. He turned to look at Sunstreaker before he spoke again, "I wish he'd come home," he whispered, "I know I sound like a big sparkling but he's too far away, and did you notice that he didn't even try to answer when I asked how he was?"

"I did," Sunstreaker nodded grimly as he pulled his lover into his arms, "He was the same with me, but I want you to try to remember that Jazz is alive because he wants to be, there's no other explanation, he isn't done yet." Their tender moment was interrupted by the sound of the door closing and Sunstreaker looked around in confusion, "Oh frag," he cursed as he realised that his twin had disappeared.

"Go after him Sunny," Bluestreak advised, "He needs you and I'll be fine."

With a quick, loving kiss Sunstreaker broke away and almost flew out of the door, his pistons pumped hard as he ran down the corridor but Sideswipe's small lead was enough to keep him ahead until he had to swerve to avoid running straight into Ultra Magnus and Springer.

Only then could Sunstreaker wrap him in a half tackle, half embrace. The golden twin shot a look at the other two Autobots, daring them to say a word, but wisely they backed off and left them alone.

Sideswipe struggled and cursed, and through the bond Sunstreaker could feel the torrent of grief and anger that threatened to drown his twin.

"I've got you," he assured his brother, "I know it hurts but..."

"You still have your lover Sunstreaker," Sideswipe snarled, "You can still hold him, and see his smile, and I... I'd tear this world apart just to have Ratch throw something at me right now. I love him Sunny. I thought of my future and I saw him, I thought that we'd have forever to share, and be together, how can all that be gone? How can he be gone?" Sideswipe finished in a spark-breaking whisper.

"I don't know Sides," Sunstreaker murmured. "I wish I could give you an answer, or make things better, but I can't." and he'd never felt so helpless in his life.

Neither of the twins were surprised when Bluestreak joined them a moment later, the young mech had never liked being left alone for long, he wrapped an arm around each of the brothers and pulled them close. The three mechs stood together in silence for a long time and found comfort in their proximity.

* * *

A.N: I don't think I'll ever be completely satisfied with this chapter, the optimist in me wants it to have a happy ending, but it can't. And I'm sorry about Hound, I've checked all my usual sources but I honestly don't know what really happened to him, he disappears completely after the movie and his death was necessary for a later plot line, but I still feel terrible.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The elegant halls of the mausoleum were silent, but to Jazz' processor that was right, in the past he had hated quiet, hidden from it in the data streams of hubs, found refuge in music or simply opened his bond to the point where all he could hear was Prowls thought processes. His beautiful tactician rarely said more than he had to, but he'd always thought a lot, but those days were gone.

In his opinion the craftsmechs had out done themselves, despite the shortage of resources on Cybertron they had created a fitting resting place for the heroes of their war.

As he passed each tomb he took a moment to read the name and remember the mech that lay at peace inside.

_Brawn_, _Huffer_, and _Windcharger,_ the minibots that had never backed down from a fight, even when their opponents had been twice their size or more.

_Hound, _the cheerful scout who had shared his love for the planet that they had called home.

_Red Alert_, the most diligent security officer on Cybertron, it had taken Jazz a long time to understand the mech, and they had never really thought of each other as friends, but they had learned to respect one another over the vorns.

_Wheeljack_, his vents hitched as he read the name, the engineer had been one of his oldest and truest friends, helped him find his way when he had been lost and alone. He traced his friends name with a shaking digit and moved on with a heavy sigh.

_Ironhide, _the gruff, seasoned warrior who had so often put himself in harms way so many times for the sake of his friends. The mech who many of the unit and even some of humans saw as a father figure.

_Ratchet, _the fiercely protective medic who had saved his life more times than he cared to count. The C.M.O. who had put the fear of Primus into so many mechs, including Prime and the twins, with his legendary temper, but Jazz considered himself honoured to have seen the softer side of the mech.

He remembered watching the gentle kiss Ratchet had given Sideswipe before the red twin had been sent back to Earth, at the time he had felt like was intruding on something incredibly private, but since then he had decided that witnessing such a tender moment was something to treasure.

He promised himself that once he was done he would call Sideswipe to see how he was and pushed on again, there was only one more tomb in the chamber as the Prime's body lay in the next room, but he had known from the start that the last in the line would also be the hardest.

"I miss you," he whispered in a tone that lent a new depth of meaning to the words as his optics settled on the glyphs that spelt Prowls name, he was acutely aware of the tear in his spark that had been caused by his bond-mates death, of how hollow he felt without the constant link. He wished that he had been able to let go of his life and join his lover in the Matrix, but his sense of duty, the responsibility that Prowl himself had nurtured had won through.

At the time he had believed that there would only be one more battle to fight, that he wouldn't have long to wait before they would be together again, but only a few hours later he had found himself battling to survive the horrors of Unicron. He shuddered at the thought of the time he had spent inside the monster. They had all been terrified but they had pulled together to save themselves, fought hard to give their rescuers time to get to them and it was because of that that Jazz hadn't given up. He had known that if he had been alone he would have let the beast consume him, but there had been more than his life at stake, and he had been forced to carry on for them.

_What am I supposed to do now Prowl?_ He thought. If the bond had been working his lover would have answered, but no answer came through the link or from anywhere else. _In all those vorns of fighting I only ever quit once and you were the one that pulled me back._

His hand touched the panel that covered his spark, and after a heavy sigh he allowed himself to think the truth, the simple facts that he had kept hidden from everyone including the mechs who meant the most to him, _It's killing me Prowl,_ he admitted, _I don't know how long I've got, but every time I come back online I know that I've lost a little bit more, it won't be long before there's nothing left of me._

Again no reply came and Jazz started to walk away, he'd never had any intention of visiting Prime's tomb, the war had started long before Optimus had become a commander, but it had been his order that had sent his beloved Prowl and the others to their deaths, and Jazz found that one mistake too hard to forgive.

Before he left the mausoleum he turned to look once more at the grim sight, "I wish that you all could have lived long enough to see the peace that we fought for," he said softly, "You are our heroes, you were my friends, you gave up everything for the ones you loved, and now it falls to me to keep them safe, and I promise you that for as long as I still function I will do everything I can to protect them."

It didn't matter to him that no one heard his words, some things do not need to be heard, but as he walked through the exit he realised that his oath was enough to sustain him for a while.

* * *

**A.N:** I really should have got everyone tissues for Christmas as I landed in bits after writing this chapter. Now go, read something cheerful, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and I promise things will start looking up for the mechs in January, but I doubt I'll get time to post again until then.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 

"Hurry up Sunny, or you'll miss it," Bluestreak called impatiently.

"I'm coming," Sunstreaker snapped back and, true to his word, a moment later he entered the room with a bowl of small energon goodies in one hand and a cube of high-grade in the other, "It isn't beer and pop-corn," he grinned as he put his offerings down on the low table in front of his lover and his twin, "but it'll do. Did it start yet?"

"Rodimus made his speech," Sideswipe answered lazily, "If you can call it that, personally I think Blue could have done better."

"Hey," the younger mech said indignantly and made his point by flicking one of the goodies so that it caught Sideswipe between the optics. Sunstreaker smiled at their antics, the previous few weeks had been tough on all of them, especially his twin who had all but broken down at the memorial to the fallen a few days before, but for the first time it what seemed like an age Sideswipe's smiles didn't seem forced and it was a wonderful sight to behold.

"From what I've seen of that walking eyesore Beachcomber could do a better job," Sunstreaker said with a slight smile for one of very few minibots he could actually stand, "I can see it now, 'Hey man look at all the people, this is going to be an amazing show, oh look at that… it's a rock',"

The other two mechs laughed at Sunstreakers fair imitation of the laid-back scientist until Bluestreak let out a cry of, "There he is!"

The twins turned their attention to the view-screen just in time to see Jazz take his place on the starting line. Bluestreak beamed proudly, glad that he had talked his friend into taking part in the games. Despite Jazz' insistence that all he wanted was a quiet life the challenge of the games seemed to have done him some good, given him something to focus on and, if the last time they had spoken was anything to go by, improved his humour a great deal.

At the signal Jazz dashed forward, reactions honed by thousands of years of war giving him an edge, by the first obstacle he was already in the lead, "Go Jazz, go!" Bluestreak yelled.

"He can't hear you," Sunstreaker pointed out.

"I don't care," Bluestreak retorted cheerfully without taking his optics off the screen, he watched his friend move fluidly over hurdles, swing over a deep pit of water without a fault then weave gracefully between columns before he transformed again for the last stretch, by that time even Sunstreaker had forgotten himself and had begun cheering.

The white ribbon broke over the Porches hood, and the former saboteur launched himself back into his robotic form to the sound of a roaring crowd.

"Yes!" Bluestreak cheered, "I knew he could do it."

"First race of the games and Jazz is already showing the rest of the galaxy how good the Autobots are," Sideswipe grinned, "What's up next?"

"Dunno," the younger mech admitted, "But I'm sure we had a program somewhere,"

The three mechs continued to watch peacefully for a while, although they all cheered loudly when the time came for Jazz to receive his medal, but as another race drew to a close there was a deafening sound that they all recognised as an explosion and the signal disappeared.

"What was that?" Bluestreak demanded worriedly.

"I know what it sounded like," Sunstreaker muttered.

"Oh Primus Jazz, please be alright," the Datsun whispered before he activated his comm-link, "Blaster, do you know anything?" he asked desperately.

"No more than you Blue," the communications officer answered, "I'm doing my best and I'll let you know as soon as I hear something."

"Thanks Blaster," Bluestreak said gratefully and he cut the link so that his friend could concentrate.

For two hours little was said between the trio, except for hopeful assurances that Jazz would be safe. Eventually their prayers were answered and a grim-faced Jazz appeared on the view-screen.

"Thank Primus," Bluestreak whispered in relief, "Are you alright? What happened? We were all scared that you were…"

"Easy now Blue," Jazz cut him off before he could get any further, "I've got to be quick, this is a public line and there are thousands waiting to call the ones they love. I'm fine, a little shaken but fine. I don't know much of the story yet, someone fired a bomb into the torch, but who or why isn't common knowledge. Rodimus took a unit to find out more."

"Please tell me that you're coming home now," Bluestreak pleaded, "You shouldn't be alone."

"Soon," the visored mech assured him, "but the next shuttle out of here is Cybertron bound, so it'll be a cycle or two before I can get down to Earth."

"But that means weeks," Sideswipe snapped, "Jazz you…"

"I know Sides," Jazz interrupted him, "but there's nothin' I can do, I'd better go, take care of each other and see y'all soon," he rattled off quickly before the screen went black again.

"Well at least we know he's okay," Sunstreaker said quietly, "And he is coming back."

"Not soon enough," Bluestreak murmured.

"Blue, if he walked though that door in five minutes time it wouldn't be soon enough," the golden twin retorted.

* * *

For days there was no good news; Decepticons had been sighted, fighting had taken place, Rodimus' team had vanished and turned up again, someone seemed to be helping their enemies, and several more vague but no less disturbing stories surfaced.

Bluestreak and the twins listened to all of it uneasily, none of them wanted to fight any more, but it seemed inevitable, and without discussing it each of them gathered up the weapons that they had hoped never to use again.

When the attack sirens sounded not one of them was surprised, they shared a quick, determined look between them and Sunstreaker led them out. He'd had time to consider his options, and while he was willing to help, he was not going to put Bluestreak and Sideswipe in danger, so he led them up a nearby gun-turret, reported their position to the hub and turned to Bluestreak. "You're our best shot, take the controls, Sides and I will keep you in ammo and make sure no one tries to stop you shooting."

He almost hoped that the Decepticons would try, his fingers itched to tear someone apart and he already knew that if he got the chance his fist victim would be for Ratchet, the second would be for Prowl, after that the order didn't matter much but there were plenty more names on the list.

Through the bond he felt his twin's emotions mirror his, Sideswipe was usually cheerful before a battle, but this time there was no attempt to balance their moods.

"What in the name of Primus is that?" Bluestreak gasped.

Sunstreaker looked round from the munitions locker and saw the biggest transformer he'd ever seen lumber past the mountains that sheltered the Ark. "I don't know," he said quietly, "But it's going to regret coming here. Shoot it."

Bluestreak did his best, but the monstrous Decepticons armour was too thick and mere minutes after Bluestreak started shooting Sky Lynx appeared on the horizon only to be shot down by the colossus and his unseen allies. The young gunner didn't hesitate before he changed tactics and worked to give his fellow Autobots cover-fire.

Suddenly Decepticons seemed to be everywhere, Sideswipe left his task of keeping the canon loaded to Sunstreaker and snatched up his rifle, each shot the red twin fired seemed to take a little of his grief, anger and frustration with it.

"Blurr and the others have made it to the city," Bluestreak reported knowing that Sunstreaker was too busy to look up again. "Hub reports say they were bringing a transformation cog to Metroplex."

As he spoke part of the city shifted and stood up, "By Primus," Sunstreaker murmured, "I never thought..."

He trailed off, Bluestreak had stopped shooting and it seemed as if the whole battle had stopped as the two immense mechs moved together and the ground began to shake as they wrestled.

The twins watched approvingly, Metroplex wasn't pulling any punches, and although there were a few tense minutes when the fight drifted dangerously close to a nearby human settlement, it didn't seem long before their ally hurled his enemy into the ocean.

"Metroplex is my kinda town!" Blaster proclaimed proudly over the comms, and a cheer went up from the other Autobots. There were still a few other Decepticons to take care of but they didn't seem like much anymore, and a jubilant mood settled over the warriors.

Their joy was to be short lived, suddenly, as if someone had flipped a switch, there was nothing, they couldn't move, think or feel. They were barely even aware of their existence and seemed to be falling into darkness. No one knew how long they fell, it could have been minutes or days, but all at once they were back.

Sunstreaker sagged against his twin. He felt as if he had just been in the fight of his life, and he wasn't sure whether or not he had won, but the presence of his twin's spark reassured him some, and when Bluestreak scrambled out of his seat and rushed to them he allowed himself to relax. The mechs he loved most were safe and he couldn't bring himself to worry about anyone or anything else.

"I thought we were finished," Sideswipe said at length.

Sunstreaker was speechless. Sideswipe had always seemed so full of life to him, but deep in their bond was a thread of regret, his twin had wanted to join the Matrix and be with his lover again. Sunstreaker tightened his grip on his twin, who flashed him a smile, but no matter how hard he tried Sideswipe couldn't hide his true feelings from his brother.

It was Rodimus' voice that interrupted their silence, "Autobots," he called to them all over the comms, "this is an uneasy victory we have won. We now know that the Deceptions are not our only foes, that another more dangerous race of beings also plots our destruction. Our universe will never be the same again. We transformers have looked into the face of our creators, and seen the face of an enemy."

"Wow," Sideswipe chuckled, his sombre mood broken, "An actual speech. I guess that means we really are in trouble now."

* * *

A week later the day of Jazz's return finally arrived, the twins and Bluestreak waited impatiently at the edge of the landing pad and all three of them let out a sigh of relief when the shuttle eventually came into view. Bluestreak pulled away from his lover so that he would be the first thing Jazz saw when he disembarked, and a few agonisingly long minutes later the black and white left the craft.

The first thing the younger mech noticed was that the innate grace that Jazz had possessed for as long they had known each other, the movement that had always seemed to be half a step away from either a fighting stance or a dance move, was gone.

Neither of them spoke as they moved together, choked by loss and silenced by grief they drew each other into a tight hug, Jazz's vents hitched and he buried his faceplates in Bluestreaks shoulder. For a long moment they didn't move, there was nothing either of them could say but there was a sense of comfort in their embrace that went far deeper than words.

The twins stepped up to join them, Sunstreaker laid a sympathetic if slightly awkward hand on the elder mechs shoulder while Sideswipe hesitated, almost as if he was asking permission before he joined in.

Wordlessly Jazz took his hand, holding it tight and not letting go even when he drew back from Bluestreak and Sunstreaker, a single look passed between them but that was all it took to convey the sorrow they shared.

"We're glad you're back," Bluestreak said softly.

"Me too," Jazz assured him before he gave himself a slight shake and attempted to smile, "So, are you gonna show me round?"

"Sure," Bluestreak smiled as he remembered that the last time Jazz had been on Earth Autobot City, as it had been known then, was still under construction. Sensing that Jazz just wanted Bluestreak to himself for a while the twins made their excuses and the two mechs entered the city.

"There's not many of the old faces left," Jazz observed as they walked through the corridors of Metroplex.

Bluestreak shook his head, "Trailbreaker left before I came out of stasis, Inferno decided that he didn't want to be here anymore just after, most of the minibots have gone back to the Ark, Smoky could be anywhere by now, and Mirage vanished during the battle and no one's heard from him since."

"With Wheeljack gone I doubt he'll turn up anytime soon," Jazz murmured, "If ever."

Bluestreak nodded sombrely, "It's starting again, isn't it?" he asked hesitantly.

Jazz nodded without questioning what the younger mech was asking.

"Will you fight?"

"When I have to," Jazz murmured, "I fought on Cybertron, but all I could think of was the mechs would should have been with me. Officially I'm here to train up some newbies and cast an optic over the city's defences, unofficially I've told Ultra Magnus that I've given all I can to war, you and the twins are the only reasons I have left and I'll make my last stand here."

Bluestreak shuddered at the finality of his friend's tone, "Let's hope it doesn't come to that," he said quietly.

Jazz shrugged and kept walking and seemed lost in his thoughts, "How are the twins?" he asked after a long silence.

Bluestreak smiled at the lighter subject, "Sunny's good. He's even started painting again, and I mean proper painting rather than just the odd sketch, I know he's worried about Sides, but his art seems to soothe both of them."

"I guess it reminds them of happier times," Jazz murmured, "Sides needs all the help he can get right now."

"He's dealing though," Bluestreak said hoping that he sounded positive, "At least I think he is, or maybe he's been taking lessons from you and he's learning to hide his feelings."

Jazz's facial expression seemed torn between relief and stubbornness, "I'm not trying to hide anything," he said quietly, "I'm just scared that if I let the pain out there'll be nothing left of me."

Bluestreaks optics widened in surprise, he'd known all along that his friend was struggling, but he hadn't expected such an honest statement so soon.

Jazz leant against the balcony they had been passing and studied the view intently, "I've got no regrets Blue," he said at length, "this isn't the end that I hoped for but I've accepted it. Prowl was my world, and I'll miss him until the day I die, but I wouldn't have missed out on what we had for all the music in the universe," the black and white smiled sadly, his gaze never left the horizon, "He was my music."

Bluestreak slipped an arm around Jazz's waist and hugged him, for a long time they stood in silence taking comfort in each others presence and thinking about the mech they both missed more than words could say.

* * *

After a while to two mechs walked up to their quarters, their sombre moods slipped away once they rejoined the twins, but as everyone else drifted off to their berths Jazz's returned, he was restless, and when his attempts to entertain himself failed he found himself drawn to the balcony that overlooked the city.

He stood there for hours, watching the lights and thinking of happier times. Not long after the sun rose he heard movement behind him, he didn't turn around, he had been expecting company.

"Why are you here?"

Jazz smiled in relief, he'd been waiting for and dreading this conversation, somewhat selfishly he was pleased to know that soon it would be over, but he also hoped that he would be able to bring Sideswipe some comfort, "That's a pretty deep question Sides," he said without looking up, "and I don't know the answer to it, but I do know what you really want to ask me."

"And what's that?" Sideswipe snapped.

"You want to know if Prowl knew what was going to happen," Jazz replied, "And the answer is yes, he did. He knew with such certainty that it gave me nightmares when I tried to recharge. He tried to convince Optimus that he and I should take the shuttle, but Prime wouldn't hear of it, and Ratch was adamant that he should come back to Earth, he told Optimus that he needed to collect parts for after the battle, but really he just wanted to see you."

Sideswipe stepped up beside him and leant on the rail, "He should have waited," he said regretfully.

"He couldn't," Jazz said with a shake of his head, "After you were sent back to Earth he became more short-tempered than I've ever known him. I think he was close to breaking point, most of us were by then, but unlike the rest of us he knew the cure, he knew the one thing that would beat back the darkness, and he knew that he'd already found it in you."

"Did he tell you any of that?" Sideswipe asked disbelievingly.

"I was in the med-bay for a little while after you were shipped back here," Jazz explained, "and yes we talked a little, but most of it was in the way he moved and what he didn't say. I've spent a lifetime watching body-language and gauging moods and I have no doubt that he loved you more than anything."

"Thanks Jazz," the red twin sounded truly grateful, "Ratch and I didn't talk about our feelings much, for the last few weeks I've been questioning a lot of things, wondering whether he's dead because he didn't love me enough to stay. I know it won't bring him back, but it's nice to know that I was loved."

"You still are," Jazz corrected him, "They'll never stop loving us and they're waiting."

The conviction in the black and white's voice was enough for Sideswipe and even if he did have anymore questions he never got a chance to ask them as at that moment he became aware of something else. "Oh Primus," he gasped.

"What is it?" Jazz asked in concern.

"Blue and Sunny," Sideswipe explained.

* * *

To the east of Metroplex the sky was lightening, dawn would be coming soon, Bluestreak knew that he should still be in recharge, but it felt like his processor was too full, he needed to think, and as Sunstreaker wouldn't be up for some time this was the best chance he would get.

Something had changed, given the events of the last few weeks he couldn't say he was surprised. He thought the war was over but it seemed that once again violence was rearing it's ugly head, no one seemed to know exactly how it had started, all he knew was that he and the twins had settled down to see Jazz take part in the games and ended up watching in helpless horror as an explosion rocked the stadium before the transmission was cut.

For two hours he had feared the worst, but finally Jazz had made contact, informed them that he was safe and would soon be on a transport bound for Earth, although he would have to take the long way home.

After that it had been weeks of waiting, broken only by news-feeds that were never good, and the few minutes when they had all been shut down, which had left everyone feeling more than a little uncomfortable.

Before the previous afternoon it had been months since Bluestreak had last seen his oldest friend without a view-screen being involved. Jazz hadn't been able to face coming back after he lost Prowl and Bluestreak could understand that. The two of them made a home on Earth and, as far as he knew, plans for their future. Jazz had told him that he had accepted his fate, Bluestreak wasn't sure he believed him or not, but he did know that neither of them were ready for that conversation.

Speaking to Jazz face to face had reassured him a little, he was obviously devastated at losing Prowl but he wasn't ready to give up, there were still things that he needed to do and Bluestreak had taken that as a good sign. They had even spoken briefly about Prowl without Jazz putting his guards up, whereas for the last few weeks he'd been avoiding that subject, but had Bluestreak understood that Jazz must have felt like his world was ending when Prowl died.

Bluestreak hoped and prayed that he would never know what it felt like to lose the mech who meant everything to him. He knew better than anyone that Sunstreaker wasn't the easiest of mechs to deal with, but he was the love of his life, the shining star that gave him direction, and as beautiful as the sunrise that he was watching.

It had been Jazz's words that had really gotten him thinking, _"I'll miss him til the day I die, but I wouldn't have missed out on what we had for all the music in the universe," _Although Jazz hadn't looked at him while he was speaking Bluestreak had taken the words to spark. They lived in troubled times and little was certain, but what was the point in fighting if they lost track of what they were fighting for?

He heard the door behind him open, then felt strong arms encircle him in a loose hug, "Come back to bed," Sunstreaker whispered in a voice that told Bluestreak that he was still half in recharge.

Suddenly he understood what had changed, "It won't be ours," he murmured.

"What?"

"If the fighting starts again it won't be our war," he explained, "we've done our part, it's time to let someone else do theirs," he turned to face his lover and saw confusion in Sunstreaker's blue optics, but at least he was alert.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Sunstreaker asked softly.

Bluestreak reached up and pulled him down into a tender kiss to answer him, and then said the words that he had waited vorns to say, "Bond with me Sunny."

* * *

Author's note: this was supposed to be a short chapter, but it grew like a weed. There are several references to "The Five Faces Of Darkness" including direct quotes by Rodimus and Blaster in this chapter so I have no claim on them, and a special thank you goes out to Elita One, I'd been fumbling around with one of Jazz's lines for days, but thanks to her review he said everything in four words, "He was my music."

Blue and Sunstreaker's bit at the end was originally written well over a year ago and in the first person, which I think I prefer it as, but apart from a few little tweaks it's pretty much as it was, so my apologies to my friends over on Lj who may have read it before.


	6. Chapter 6

A.N: Sorry about the delay, real life has been kinda hectic. This chapter moves on a bit from the others, just imagine that a few months have past as I can't find any time references in the series, except that Daniel doesn't look much older. We are now in the same time frame as 'The Return of Optimus Prime', which just for the record I don't own (unless you count the DVD).

**Chapter 6**

Bluestreak grinned, it was something he'd done a lot of in the previous few months, the wonder of being able to feel the mech he loved beyond words, whether Sunstreaker was present at the time or not, had given him a sense of blissful completion that it was hard for him not to walk around with a permanent smile on his lip-components. And a brief flicker from the other end of the bond that in his processor translated roughly into a "?" was more than enough to brighten his mood.

No words passed between them, Jazz had told them that such things took time to learn, their processors and sparks needed to adapt and accept the myriad of new sub-routines that came with the link first, but the young mech managed to reach out across the invisible connection to Sunstreaker and soothe the concern he found there.

It had been his fault, Bluestreak realised as Sunstreaker's worry melted away. He'd been watching Jazz closely since the black and white had wandered almost aimlessly into one of Metroplex's public rooms, worrying and his lover had picked up on it. Once, not so long ago Jazz's presence would have reassured Bluestreak, but he felt as if those days were gone, along with most of the Porches confidence and smiles.

Jazz had become withdrawn, there was no other way to describe it, he rarely spoke unless spoken to first, and while Bluestreak had always admired Jazz's ability to move almost silently when he wanted to it occurred to the Datsun that in recent weeks Jazz had hardly made a sound, almost as if he wasn't really touching the world around him, and Bluestreak could barely believe that a mech with Jazz's presence could fade away so easily, no one else in the room had even given him a second look.

A small, puzzled frown crossed the black and white's face as Bluestreak watched and he was about to stand and join his friend to investigate when every light in the room went out and the pleasant, peaceful atmosphere dissolved into frantic shouts.

"Quiet!" called Jazz's unmistakable voice as the first head-lights came on and turned as one to bathe him in light, "I don't know what's happened, but everyone just calm down, and get to your quarters" he ordered, "Bluestreak, with me."

Bluestreak was surprised, although he knew he shouldn't have been, Jazz had given no indication that he had even seen him, but if Jazz had been aware that something was wrong before everyone else, which wasn't all that unusual, then he would have had other priorities.

"What's going on?" he asked as he joined his friend, "Are we under attack?"

"Not in a way we're used to," Jazz answered, but he didn't elaborate. "Where's Sunny?"

Bluestreak hesitated, searching his bond to find out which direction it led, "This way."

They broke into a run, and less than a minute later, much to Bluestreak's relief the golden twin ran up the darkened corridor to them, "Are you alright?" he asked as he pulled Bluestreak into a hug.

"Fine," Bluestreak answered, and he was unable to resist nudging at the bond.

"We need to find Sides," Jazz informed them, although seemed to feel awkward about interrupting them.

"I'm a pepper, don't you want to be a pepper too?" a new voice asked them and they spun to face the approaching mech.

"Wreck-Gar? What are you talking about?" Sunstreaker demanded.

"Keep away from him," Jazz warned, his deadly serious tone was enough to make his friends listen even if they were utterly confused. "Back away slowly, find Sideswipe, get to our quarters and I'll meet you there," the black and white ordered.

"Don't fear the reaper music man," the Junkion snarled.

"One step closer," Jazz said clearly, "And your show will be cancelled."

Bluestreak and Sunstreaker didn't hang around to hear anymore, hand in hand they ran until they turned a corner and almost collided with the red twin.

"What's happening?" Sideswipe asked immediately.

"No idea," Bluestreak admitted, "But Jazz said to get home, and that's what we're doing."

"At least he said something," Sideswipe muttered as they hurried away, "He's been far too quiet lately."

"It was more of an order," Sunstreaker told him, "Jazz maybe miserable, or scared, or furious, but he was a commander for thousands of years, I doubt he'll ever forget how to boss mechs around."

Sideswipe almost smiled, "Maybe it'll help," he said with forced optimism.

"Or maybe he's finally gone off the deep end," Sunstreaker snapped, "Last we saw of him he was facing off against Wreck-Gar."

"What?" Sideswipe exclaimed.

"You heard me," his twin retorted.

Bluestreak nudged at his bond again in the hope that it would help his lover calm down, but before he got a definite response a movement at the edge of his optical range caught his attention and stopped him dead. At the far end of the corridor that crossed theirs Rodimus Prime and Ultra Magnus were fighting.

"This is insane," he muttered, "I don't understand..."

"None of us do Blue," Sunstreaker said softly, "But we can't stay here." The golden twin tugged at his hand and pulled him onwards, the physical contact between them helped to reassure them, but Bluestreak couldn't block out the feeling that everything he understood and found comforting had been ripped away.

Finally the door to their quarters came into sight and Sunstreaker heaved it open. "How are we going to lock this without any power?" he asked curtly.

"The mechanism's still there," Bluestreak answered, "I can rig it, and if I can't Jazz can, where is he?" he managed to keep his tone neutral for most of what he had to say, but there was simply no way he could hid his concern in the last few words.

A feral cry that was both unmistakably Jazz and completely at odds with his character answered him, and a second later the black and white dived into their line of sight followed closely by a hail of debris before he shot through the door almost horizontally.

"Jazz, are you alright?" Bluestreak asked desperately.

"Shut the door!" Jazz barked, "Barricade it!"

"Jazz I..."

"Now Bluestreak!"

The younger mech didn't need any further encouragement but he kept an optic on Jazz as he worked, his friend paced fretfully, and kept glancing around as if he expected to be attacked.

"Will you let me look at you now?" Bluestreak asked cautiously when he managed to activate the lock.

"I'm fine." Jazz dismissed him as he took a few steps towards the rest of them then backtracked quickly.

"No, you're not," Sunstreaker snapped, evidently the golden twin had decided that a blunt approach was needed rather than his bond-mate's attempt at tact. "I can see at least three coolant leaks, and there's energon all over your shoulder, is it yours?"

"I truly hope so," Jazz whispered as he looked himself over, "I'd hate to hurt another Autobot, even if they have all gone crazy. It's bad enough that I had to use concussion grenades inside Metroplex. It's a good thing he's off-line or he'd be hating me about now."

"You'd be surprised by how hard it is to hate you," Sunstreaker said with a half-sparked smile, "Trust me, I've tried."

"Sunny," Bluestreak scolded him. "Jazz let me look you over. It's not like we have anything better to do."

"There aren't any other entrances," Sideswipe said suddenly, "No one can get in."

Jazz relaxed his guard slightly at the red twins assurance, but still seemed unable to stand still.

_He's terrified,_ Bluestreak realised, _and without the bond, without Prowl to calm him..._

"Jazz stop!" he shouted desperately. He took a few steps closer and reached out to his oldest friend, "I need you to stop," he added as he took Jazz's hands in his own and looked at him imploringly, "You know more than we do and we need answers."

In the space of a few words all of Jazz's restless energy disappeared, for a moment he stared at the younger mech, and Bluestreak felt as if Jazz could see everything he was, in an unspoken apology Jazz touched their helms together briefly and began.

"Something... felt wrong... from the moment I walked into the rec room," Jazz muttered hesitantly, but he seemed to be gathering his confidence as he spoke, "There are patterns in groups, rhythms in voices... don't ask me to explain it, I've been listening to them and watching them all my life and I still don't know everything, but they are real... I think. Anyway, I accessed the hub, took a look around, I didn't get much before it cut out."

"What did you find Jazz?" Bluestreak asked patiently and the grip on his hands tightened.

"Chaos," Jazz answered in a shaky voice, "All the reports were vague, I would have kicked most of them back to whoever wrote them with a little note saying 'please try again,', Prowl would have been more subtle about but... y'know I never thought I'd miss Red Alert fritzing 'cause I was lookin' at things I shouldn't."

Bluestreak smiled indulgently but behind him he could hear the twins shuffling impatiently, "Then what Jazz?" he persisted.

"The reports told me the Rodimus had taken a unit to a human laboratory, but no reason why was given," Jazz continued, "Something went wrong, fighting broke out, and not just between Autobots and Decepticons. From there things just seemed to get worse and the information even patchier; Superion went on a rampage and injured several of our friends, the Protectobots started brawling in the middle of a city, in the last report I found Rodimus said the madness was spreading like wildfire, like a plague of hate."

Bluestreak felt Jazz shudder and pulled him into a tight hug, "What can we do?" he asked softly.

"I don't think there's anything we can do," Jazz murmured, and a shudder ran through his frame, "Without the hub we've got no comms and no way to get information. I've got a few history book-files, but I don't think there's anything in them that can help."

"They're a place to start," Bluestreak said hoping that he sounded more confident than he felt, "We'll take a look once I've checked you over, okay?"

Jazz nodded docilely and allowed the younger mech to guide him to a seat, none of the injuries were serious but Bluestreak felt better once they had been tended to, and he was determined to find every positive that he could, but the only other one he could find was the constant reassurance that echoed across his bond.

* * *

For two weeks the four mechs huddled and hid while chaos reigned in the city, from time to time they heard fights and wished that there was something they could do, but they knew that trying was futile, the Hate Plague was too virulent to risk stepping outside.

It wasn't easy for any of them, helplessness devastated Jazz, Sideswipes humour blackened, Bluestreak grew quieter and Sunstreakers temper became harder for him to restrain once again, but somehow they managed to hold on.

It had been a morning much like the others, Sunstreaker had stomped around for a while before heading to his own room to paint, leaving his bond-mate sat at a table fiddling with a gadget. Sideswipe sat by the window glaring out at the distant mountains and Jazz browsing their many book-files and trying to find something that he hadn't read before.

Not one of them was prepared for the sudden wave of something none of them could define that surged through them.

Bluestreak gave a startled cry and jumped out of his seat, "What the frag was that?" he asked in a shaken tone.

Sideswipe looked at him with wide, frightened optics but didn't answer, and when the younger mech turned his attention to Jazz he realised that the black and white was trembling, and barely holding himself upright.

"Jazz?" he said softly, "Jazz, what is it?"

The former saboteur shuddered, and Bluestreak realised that he was about to fall just in time to catch him.

"What just happened?" Sunstreaker demanded to know as he came back into the room.

"No idea," Bluestreak admitted, and he tightened his grip on Jazz as his knees buckled.

"Prowl?" the older mech whispered.

Bluestreak winced, he'd never seen his friend look so vulnerable and if he was honest he was afraid that Jazz couldn't take much more. "You're alright Jazz," he comforted him even though he knew he was lying.

Sensing that his brother was possibly as shaken as Jazz Sunstreaker crossed the room and wrapped his arms around his twin, "What was it Sides?" he questioned anxiously.

"Just for a moment, maybe only a second," Sideswipe murmured, "I thought… I was sure that I felt… Ratchet," the last word was little more than a whimper and Sideswipe pushed himself closer to his twin.

"Easy now," Sunstreaker soothed him, "I've got you."

"I felt the same thing," Jazz whispered in a voice thick with static, "Except it was Prowl, and I know what it was."

"Well don't keep it to yourself," Sunstreaker prompted.

Jazz shook himself and tried to look confident, "It was the same as when Rodimus used the Matrix to destroy Unicron, although that was nothing like as powerful as this time. I think he did it again to fight the Hate Plague, and it worked too, Magnus just brought Metroplex back on-line, the comms are open, and I can hear voices, some of them are hurt and most are scared. We have to help them."

Bluestreak nodded quickly, pleased that his friend seemed more like his old self than he had been since his return to Earth.

"There's no sign of Blaster though," Jazz continued, "I'm going to the hub, I can be of most use there. Blue, I know that you're not a medic but I want you to take over the med-bay until First Aid turns up. Sunny, Sides, once I've got locations I can start directing you to those who need help the most."

"Yes sir," Bluestreak grinned eagerly, and the four mechs hurried to remove the barricade they had made against the door before they scattered.

Jazz moved to the communications centre with some of his old determination in his stride, he wasn't a soldier anymore but he still had the training, the attitude, and the desire to help.

He took what was usually Blasters seat and activated the terminal, almost immediately the chatter of the comms filled the room, he smiled in relief at the sound and began the task he had set himself.

In the two weeks he had been in hiding most of the Autobots had scattered to the four winds, only a few were still in the city and he dealt with them first, reassuring them and directing the twins to the injured, but even as he was working on that he sent out hails to everyone including the mechs who had gone their own way.

He wasn't particularly astonished to find that Trailbreaker had taken refuge in the Australian outback, or that Inferno was already busy helping humans in San Francisco, finding Beachcomber in Mexico however was a surprise, but the minibot informed him that he was just about fine, and would be back in a week or so.

Jazz was still chuckling softly at the geologist's laid-back manner when he picked up a comm that stopped him cold. The message was nothing unusual; co-ordinates and assurance that the sender would be back as soon as possible, but Jazz had never expected to hear that frequency again.

For a moment he froze, a quick diagnostic told him that there was nothing wrong with any of his sensors so he wasn't hearing things, he replayed the communiqué and listened closely to make sure there was no mistake, or that it wasn't some kind of trick before he opened the right frequency and spoke hesitantly, "Optimus?"

"That's right Jazz," the Prime answered.

"How?"

"I'll explain everything when I get back to Autobot City; I doubt you'll be the only 'bot with questions, E.T.A. forty minutes." Prime responded before he cut the link.

"It's Metroplex now," Jazz murmured although he knew that his former commander couldn't hear him, "and that ain't the only thing that's changed."

Once he had done all that he could Jazz left the comms tower again, and headed for the med-bay where just about everyone had gathered. He smiled as Bluestreaks voice reached his audios long before he reached the doors, the younger mech seemed to have picked up some of Ratchets bedside manner over the years and was alternating between snapping orders and threatening anyone who didn't move fast enough for his liking.

"Is it safe?" he asked with a smirk as he peered round the door and spotted Sunstreaker standing close by.

"Doubt it," the golden twin answered quietly so that he wouldn't be overheard, "You know I always figured that it was just the way Ratchet was, but now I'm starting to wonder if it's more the med-bay itself that turns perfectly rational mechs into psychos."

"Could be," Jazz agreed, "Or it could just be that Blue's spent far too much time with you and Ratch over the years. Anyway, what's the score?"

"Humans and Autobots zero, Bluestreak sixteen," Sunstreaker answered with a note of pride in his voice before he became more sombre, "About a dozen 'bots were in the city and a hand-full of humans. They'll all live, those that aren't here are in the rec room except for two men. Sides took them to a hospital as Blue knows nothing about human anatomy. Did you track everyone else down?"

Jazz nodded, "Everyone who usually lives here is on their way back, although some'll take longer than others. I got answers from everyone else, apart from Mirage and we can't even be sure that he's still on Earth, they're safe," he hesitated for a moment before he delivered the rest of his news, "Prime'll be here in about twenty minutes."

"Like I care about the walking eyesore," Sunstreaker muttered.

"Not Rodimus," Jazz corrected his friend, "Optimus."

"What?" Sunstreaker snapped, "How?"

"I don't know," Jazz shrugged, "But I spoke to him and he's back."

"What about Ratchet? And Prowl? You and Sides both said that you sensed them, do you think it means that…?"

"I tried their frequencies, but got no answer," Jazz replied to the unfinished question, "They're part of the Matrix now, and as it was opening it that ended the plague…I don't know, maybe it was just sensor ghosts."

Sunstreaker nodded sadly, "You okay?" he asked with concern.

"No," Jazz whispered, "But there are more important things happening now," and with that he moved further into the room and started helping Bluestreak, he didn't look around or he would have seen the worried optics that watched him go.

It seemed like no time at all before Optimus Prime himself walked into the med-bay, although Jazz had warned everyone that their leader had returned not many had truly believed him and almost everyone looked on in surprise or disbelief as he marched across the room.

Bluestreak was the first to regain his voice, "How?" he asked.

Optimus Prime wearily took a seat on the edge of one of the berths and recounted his tale. It seemed unbelievable or it would have been if anyone else had been doing the telling. No one spoke until he was finished, but as soon as he was questions came from every corner of the room.

Jazz sat on the edge of a berth staring vacantly at the floor, his leader was back but he couldn't feel happy, he couldn't even look at his commander without wanting to scream at him, or throw something. M_aybe Sunny was right,_ he mused, _maybe the med-bay has that effect on mechs, _but he knew that that wasn't the reason. The simple truth was that he was furious with the Prime for being alive.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been sat alone, but eventually Sunstreaker came over to join him, "It's not wrong to be angry," he said quietly, "It's better than feeling nothing at all."

"I just don't understand it," Jazz whispered, "This isn't like me."

"It wasn't," the golden twin corrected him, "A lot's changed."

"I don't think I can take this," Jazz said in a barely audible whisper, "I'm gonna go back to the hub and make myself useful if I can."

Sunstreaker watched the former saboteur leave worriedly, then realised that he wasn't the only one watching. Optimus had also witnessed Jazz' departure, and was looking as if he might follow. The golden twin shared a quick glance with his bond-mate, who was still too busy to help, tried to look more relaxed and casually placed himself between the Prime and the door.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 **

It was a few weeks before Jazz saw Optimus again, he hadn't exactly been avoiding him but Metroplex was a big city, and Jazz had found every way he could to keep himself busy, but when he entered the rec room and saw Optimus sat alone, close to the door, he knew that he couldn't get away fast enough.

"Hello Jazz," Optimus said warmly. "How are things?"

"As good as they can get," Jazz replied as he struggled to keep his tone polite and casual. "Did you hear about Blue and Sunstreaker bonding?" he asked, figuring that at least it was a safe subject.

"I did," the Prime nodded. "You must be very proud. I know you've always taken a shall we say paternal interest in Bluestreak."

"It's the closest human word I can think of," Jazz agreed.

"They both seem happier for the union anyway," Optimus continued.

Two things occurred to Jazz in the same moment; the first was that Optimus seemed eager to talk to him, even if he wasn't quite sure what to say, _could he be lonely?_ Jazz wondered, the second was that a feeling that he could only define as uneasy was creeping through his frame, he was pleased that it wasn't the anger that he had felt the last time he had been in the same room as Optimus, but it was unsettling.

"They balance each other out," Jazz said quickly as he realised that he should say something.

Optimus gave his head a slight shake, almost as if he was trying to clear his processor and nodded again. "Indeed," he agreed.

"Are you okay Boss?" Jazz asked.

"I'm fine," Optimus replied as he rose from his table, but he looked unsteady and Jazz reached out for him on instinct.

"_Soon."_the word ripped through Jazz like a high-powered electric shock the moment he touched Optimus' arm, and he jumped backwards.

"What the frag was that?" he demanded to know.

"I am... unsure," Optimus murmured, "I've been getting flashes like that since I opened the Matrix, they fill me with dread. Something is coming."

"And soon," Jazz murmured. "But will it bring an end or a beginning?"

"Perhaps both," Prime responded mysteriously. "But this is the first time anyone else has sensed something. Jazz, can you help me?"

"I think this might be a little over my head Optimus, I'm sorry," sorrow and guilt overwhelmed him and he started to retreat.

"Jazz wait," Optimus called after him. "We're friends, aren't we? I've never known you to run from trouble."

"I'm not a warrior anymore Prime, I'm just a mech, one that's already given everything he had," Jazz said sadly.

"We've all made sacrifices," Optimus reminded him. "But our loyalty to the Autobot cause..."

"I thought you understood," Jazz interrupted, suddenly full of the anger he had hoped wouldn't come. "There was only ever one mech who truly commanded my loyalty. He was my faith, my strength, my grace, the most beautiful thing in my life, and because of a war that he didn't cause and an order you gave; he's dead."

"So was I," Optimus pointed out. "There's always hope Jazz."

"Hope can be a terrible thing," Jazz snapped back. "I'm sorry Optimus." And with those words he all but fled the room. He tried not to think about their conversation as he made his way through Metroplex to his quarters, but the moment he had touched Optimus returned to haunt him no matter what distractions he employed. He couldn't even be sure that it was real, or distinguish who had said it. _Could it have been Prowl?_ He wondered, _was it just one voice or hundreds all calling out at the same time?_

By the time he entered his quarters he was more confused than he had ever been before. Bluestreak and the twins all looked up from their afternoon energon and greeted him as he walked in, but he barely heard them, his processor was too full of questions to concentrate properly.

"What's happened?" the concern in Bluestreaks tone was enough to penetrate the din, and make him realise that he had just been standing in the middle of the room and staring at nothing.

"I wish I knew," Jazz answered, and he was ashamed at how shaken he sounded. "I talked to Optimus..."

"Frag," Sunstreaker snarled. "I thought he'd gotten the message, what did he say?"

"It wasn't him Sunny," Jazz tried to explain. "He looked a bit confused about something, I asked him if he was okay, touched his arm as I did so and I thought I heard something, a voice, a crowd, I can't be sure."

"What did it say?" Sideswipe asked.

"Soon," Jazz answered. "Just that, nothing more, almost as if it was a huge effort just to get that word across. Optimus said that he's been getting moments like that since he came back... no," he corrected himself. "Since he opened the Matrix, and he thinks they're warnings."

"Sounds like it," Bluestreak agreed. "And let's not forget that he was part of the Matrix for a while himself, maybe he's more aware of it than most Primes would be."

"Part of the Matrix," Jazz echoed, an idea was starting to take shape in his processor, and although it was little more than a guess it was better than nothing. "Optimus said that no one else knew what was happening to him," he added in a rush. "Maybe I heard something because part of me is a part of the Matrix too. Prowl's in there, he's still watching over us and we all know that he'd do anything for us."

"He could have been a little less cryptic," Sunstreaker muttered.

"Maybe he didn't have to explain," Bluestreak guessed. "Maybe Jazz already knows the rest. He just doesn't know that he knows it, did that make sense?"

"Almost," Jazz said with a small, fond smile to the younger mech.

"So the question becomes; what does Jazz know?" Bluestreak pressed on regardless of the quizzical looks that the twins were exchanging.

"We need to narrow that down a bit before he starts going through the lyrics of every song ever written," Sideswipe smirked.

Sunstreaker gave his twin a withering look and Bluestreak ignored him. "What do you know that no one else does Jazz? Maybe something Prowl told you just before he died."

"Just that he loves me," Jazz answered. "There wasn't time for anything else, they were taken by surprise, and Prowl was too busy... Oh Primus," he gasped as a look of horror crossed his face. "He was using me to relay plans for the battle, the one that never happened. The final fight is coming and I'm on the wrong damned planet," abruptly he turned and ran for his rooms.

"Jazz wait," Bluestreak called as he followed him. "What are you doing?"

"Leaving," Jazz snapped.

"Not without me," Bluestreak said firmly.

"You're a bonded mech now Blue," Jazz pointed out. "Your place is with your bond-mate."

"Then you don't have much of an argument," Sunstreaker said quickly as he joined them. "Because my place is with Sideswipe, and he's already packing."

"No!" Jazz exclaimed as he shoved his way out again. "Sides think about this," he pleaded.

"You think I haven't," the red twin shot back. "If Bluestreak is right then everything that happened, everything we lost wasn't chance, it was fate, and if fate is involved and the last battle is coming then whether we live or die has already been decided, and we both know that we'd rather go out fighting than hiding."

"And if Blue's wrong?" Jazz asked.

"Then Ratchet died for nothing," Sideswipe said brokenly. "And so did Prowl, can you accept that Jazz? because I can't."

For a long moment Jazz stared at Sideswipe. "You've got me there," he said quietly. "Let's go."

* * *

The long flight out to Cybertron wasn't a comfortable one, the shuttle Jazz acquired was small and all four mechs were on edge, but their resolve was strengthened when, not long after they landed, news reached them of an attack on Metroplex and that the entire Decepticon fleet was headed for Cybertron.

Jazz sat back in his seat as Bluestreak told them as much as he knew, then he looked at Sideswipe. "It's happening," he said dully.

"At least it proves that you aren't going crazy," Sideswipe said with an attempt at a smile. "We were starting to wonder."

"You weren't the only ones," Jazz admitted. "I guess the next step is to talk to Optimus again, tell him what we know."

"You want me to do it?" Bluestreak offered.

Jazz shook his head. "I can't avoid him forever, and I'm starting to understand that it wasn't all his fault." And before anyone else could say or do anything he activated his comm-link. "Jazz to Optimus Prime," he called out across the galaxy.

"Optimus here, report Jazz," his leader responded immediately.

"I'm on Cybertron with Blue and the twins, we talked things over after I left you, we think that the last battle for Cybertron is coming, and we'll help any way we can."

"I'm relieved to hear that Jazz," Optimus said kindly. "And I agree. Every Autobot I could muster is with me and we'll be with you in less than an hour, but the Deceptions will arrive first. There's still more to this than we know and I can think of only one place to get answers, I want you and your team to guard the access tunnel to Vector Sigma and take down any Decepticon that gets close, do you know where it is?"

"So long as no one's moved it in the last few million years," Jazz answered. "Over and out," he cut the link and quickly informed the others of his conversation before he led them out.

The four mechs drove in silence for some time, each one of them lost in their own thoughts, but to the surprise of his three friends it was Jazz who broke the dreadful silence. "I used to love Iacon," he muttered as he turned into a dark back-street. "It was so full of life, even after the war started it thrived, full of noise and hope, but look at what it's become..." he trailed off and transformed. "We'll take position here."

"This is where Vector Sigma is?" Bluestreak asked. "I mean look at this place, it's a dump," he was right, the empty, dead-end street held nothing except the detritus of life long gone.

"He's about a mile below us," Jazz corrected him. "Think about where we are Blue, geographically we're almost at the dead-centre of Iacon, the old Autobot head-quarters is only a few blocks over, and it's easy to defend. Vector Sigma was here first and Iacon was built over him."

"I guess," the gunner said as he looked around. "I can get a clear line of fire from up there," he added pointing out a balcony. "I'll take that."

Jazz nodded stiffly. "Sunstreaker go with him, Sides you and I will find somewhere down here. Remember to keep quiet, we don't want the 'Cons wondering why we're here."

The waiting game had never been one Jazz had enjoyed playing, and Sideswipe's restless nature certainly didn't help any, but somehow they made it through, watched as Optimus and Ultra Magnus turned in and headed down to Victor Sigma, chased off a few Decepticons who got a bit too close, and much to their relief finally joined the main fight when Optimus re-emerged.

All four of them watched dumbfounded as an Autobot shuttle powered away from the planet at a velocity that should have been impossible, and all of a sudden the Decepticons seemed to be retreating.

"Was that it?" Sunstreaker asked irritably.

"Doubt it," Jazz answered. "Take some rest while you can."

Time to refuel or recharge was hard to come by for over a cycle as their enemies kept up regular assaults that seemed designed to leave the Autobots drained and tense.

As the attack sirens sounded for what seemed like the hundredth time Jazz felt the by then familiar sense of finality wash over him. "Whoever is in charge of those alarms is doing Red Alert proud," Sideswipe grumbled as they shouldered their rifles again.

"He's probably operating them from beyond the grave," Sunstreaker added and they traded weak smiles at the attempted humour.

By the time they reached open air the laser fire that flashed in all directions seemed to have erased the stars, and the rumble of explosions shook the ground. Jazz cast an optic over the scene and thought his spark would freeze and shatter; around him Iacon burned.

In his processor thousands of prayers from Earth's wonderfully varied cultures all seemed to begin at once and blended in with his own faith, he knew without question that the end had come, and that they would need every deity that he had ever heard of on their side if anything was to survive.

In flashes of gold and crimson the twins joined the fray, and it seemed that their recklessness had traversed the bonds between them as Bluestreak was less than a spark-pulse behind them. Jazz watched them in horror for an instant, then realised that if they were going to run into the Pit there was no way he was going to let them beat him there.

A cold detachment settled over him as he fought, almost as if he was watching a movie. He could see everything but he felt nothing, no fear, no worry, no pain, and he couldn't tell if he had been fighting for hours or minutes.

Without warning a savage blow caught him across the shoulders and he was sent sprawling. For a moment nothing made any sense, he lay on his back and looked up at the dark sky without really seeing it, until his processor finally caught up with him.

Above him bright planets lit the sky with light they reflected from the distant sun, _but Cybertron isn't anywhere near any other planets,_ he thought hazily. Terror ripped through his circuits as he realised exactly which planet he was gazing up at. _Earth, my home, _then it dawned on him; it hadn't been the rumble of explosions he had felt earlier, but the roar of distant but powerful engines.

_Not Earth,_ he pleaded to any higher-power still listening.

Energy crackled around him, so much energy, too much energy. For a moment he wondered whether the shear amount of laser fire around him had ignited the atmosphere, or if someone had torn out the spark of Cybertron itself and he was watching the planets death-throws.

He wasn't given long to think about such things as all of his systems jumped into the red zones, but one name flickered through his consciousness as the darkness rushed up around him. _"Prowl."

* * *

_

"Ouch," Bluestreak muttered as his processor attempted to reboot itself, "What the...?" he was about to asked the obvious when an overwhelming need hit him like a bullet-train. "Sunstreaker!" he called. "Sunny?"

Through the bond he felt a desperate awareness, a spark calling out to him and he was powerless to do anything but answer.

Blindly he stumbled through the wreckage of war, until relief washed over him and he sank down into his lover's arms. "It's alright, we're alright," Sunstreaker murmured reassuringly, but there was something tickling at the bond that told Bluestreak that his lover didn't quite believe it.

A moment later a clatter and a grunt announced Sideswipe's presence as he piled into his twin. "I thought we were done for," he admitted as he included Bluestreak in the hug.

"You weren't the only one Sides," Sunstreaker agreed. "But look."

For the first time Bluestreak and Sideswipe looked around them, the dull grey that they had all become accustomed to seeing on their war-torn planet was gone, and although the wreckage of battle was still everywhere the barren, dying metal was as bright as gold and warm to the touch.

"By Primus," Sideswipe whispered. "It's beautiful."

Bluestreak starred in awe for a moment longer, then his spark lurched as he realised that one of his friends was missing. "Jazz!" he shouted as he leapt to his feet. "Jazz, where are you?"

The three of them fanned out quickly, calling as they ran, then Bluestreak launched into a string of curses that Sunstreaker was surprised he knew and Sideswipe couldn't help but think that Ratchet would have been proud of.

By the time the twins joined him Bluestreak was on his knees beside his oldest friend, and pulling him into his arms. It didn't look good, Jazz's contrasting paint-job seemed muted and his visor was dark.

"Jazz!" Bluestreak called desperately. "Jazz, please, not yet, not like this." he pleaded.

"Maybe it's time to let him go," Sideswipe suggested awkwardly.

Bluestreak shot him an incredulous look that should have been able to pierce armour at twenty paces. "No," he said flatly. "Jazz spent most of his life protecting me and fighting a war that shouldn't have been his to fight, he needs to see," he looked back down to the older mech he cradled. "Jazz, you need to see this," the response that Bluestreak hoped for didn't come and Bluestreak knew that if he had been human tears would be streaming down his face.

"Blue," Sunstreaker said softly as he eased himself down behind his lover. "I'm sorry."

"No, no, no," Bluestreak whimpered. "I can't lose him. You hear me Jazz? I need you here," in his spark Bluestreak was starting to think that it was hopeless, but he wasn't ready to let go of his one-time guardian without saying one more thing, they were such simple words, but he'd never said them, although he'd wanted to more times than he could count.

"I love you dad."

* * *

Distant voices whispered to him, but Jazz couldn't see anyone else, or anything that made any sense. There were colours, lights and a feeling that wherever he was he was safe, but nothing tangible. _Am I lost?_ He wondered, and a stray thought, a ghost of a memory, flickered through his processor._ "You haven't been lost until you've been lost at Mach Three,"_ he wasn't completely sure who had told him that, but he'd always found it amusing, and somehow it gave him comfort as well.

_Where am I?_ He thought. _Am I dead?_

"_Not yet,"_ a familiar presence answered him. _"You aren't finished."_

There had only ever been one mech who could respond to Jazz's thoughts that way, and joy raced through him in an instant. _"Prowl?"_

"_I've missed you too my Jazz,"_ Prowl answered as the love they had shared seemed to envelope him. _"But you shouldn't be here."_

"_My place has always been with you."_

"_And mine will always be with you. Have faith Jazz, there is more going on than you know. Miracles are happening around you."_

"_I don't understand,"_ Jazz admitted.

"_You will, but if you stay here much longer then you won't be able leave. Can you hear Bluestreak calling for you?"_

Strangely Jazz could, he hadn't realised it before but one of the voices he could hear was unmistakably Bluestreak, he sounded devastated, and Jazz had never wanted you hear that desperation in the younger mechs voice.

"_I love you Jazz, I'll see you soon."_

"_I love you too," _Jazz thought, and he'd never meant those words more. _"I don't want to leave."_

"_I'll always be with you,"_ Prowl was calm and certain and that helped a little, but it didn't prepare Jazz for the sudden, terrible pain at lanced through to his core.

The muted swirls of light became harsh reality in an instant and Jazz found himself lying in Bluestreaks arms, the grey mech gave a startled but joyful cry and held him tighter and needing something to hold onto Jazz returned the hug full force.

"We thought we'd lost you," Bluestreak murmured once he had calmed a little.

"It was close," Jazz admitted. "But Prowl seemed to have other ideas."

"You spoke to him?" Sideswipe asked disbelievingly.

"Just for a moment," Jazz answered. "I don't think I was in the Matrix itself, but I was close enough for him to reach out to me. He told me that he loves me, but that I should be here and to follow Blue's voice back," he hesitated and looked at the younger mech. "You called me dad."

Bluestreak ducked his head in embarrassment. "It seemed appropriate," he said quietly. "You pretty much raised me, and I know it's not what I would have called my creators if I'd known them but... well... you know, do you mind?"

"Not in the slightest," Jazz said with a genuine grin. "I'm honoured."

Bluestreak beamed back at him, then something else occurred to him and with a gentle touch he moved Jazz's head so that he was looking at the world around them.

"By Primus," Jazz whispered once he had rebooted his visor twice and was sure that what he was seeing was real. "Cybertron's reborn."

* * *

A.N: Boy, what a chapter, and it's all been written in the last few days, which is unusual for me, most of the time I like to give myself a head-start or at least have a few notes, but for some reason I kept putting this one off and suddenly I was here and I had nothing; lesson learned. The good news is that the next chapter is almost finished, the bad news is that I'm working silly hours at the moment, but I'll get it up as soon as I can. Thank you all for reading, reviewing and having patience with me, you have permission to poke me if you think I'm taking too long again.

The line, "You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach Three," came from a 'Military words of wisdom' e-mail that a friend of mine sent me and is attributed to a SR71 test-pilot, as someone who has a terrible sense of direction I read it, collapsed in a heap of giggles, found it oddly reassuring and decided to use it as things were getting far too serious, I think it was probably Fireflight who said it to Jazz.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Peace; after half a life-time of war it seemed an odd concept to Jazz, and in moments when he had nothing to do, or there was nothing he could do, he often found himself thinking about what it might mean. He knew that he hadn't quite adapted to the idea yet; he still carried his side-arm, still took the time to visit the training rooms once in a while, and he was still ready to defend his loved ones at any given moment, but the fact remained that the war that had ravaged Cybertron, and later Earth, was finally over and done.

It worried him that he had heard such promises before, not that long after he had lost everything, and they had been broken. The first time he had just tried to carry on, even taken part in the first Galactic Olympic Games, in an attempt to drive away the emptiness, but a terrorist attack had brought them to an early close, and he felt worse than ever. He wasn't sure if he could survive something like that again.

At the games Jazz had expected to see his friends appear the moment he had heard the blast, waited to hear Optimus Prime bellowing orders that no one would dare disobey, or see Ironhide rushing in regardless of the danger, Ratchet helping the injured, or Prowl rushing to his side, but none of that had happened. The sense of loss he had felt that day still haunted him.

It had been Rodimus Primes team that had saved the day, and he had never been able to feel a part of that. In his opinion they were all good 'bots but they weren't Ark mechs, and he doubted that anyone but the original unit Optimus had brought to Earth could understand that. Cut off from the others they had become more than a unit, most of them had served together for ages and were friends, but that had become something deeper as the years went on.

They had depended on each other, worked and played together, shared pleasures and pains, learnt so much and become a family.

Optimus' death, and the loss of so many others, had shattered that though. Many of those who survived had either been reassigned or decided that they had done enough, sacrificed enough, and gone their own ways.

Jazz kept in touch with most of them. After the last battle he had returned to Earth he had made Metroplex his home, and although he didn't officially have duties he often helped out with the comms so everyone knew where to find him if they wanted a chat. Jazz could only hope that he was helping.

Most days the only thing that kept him going was a faded memory, one that had taken on an unreal, dreamlike quality in the months that had followed. Jazz had never questioned it's reality, it had given him hope and he had lived long enough to understand that a little faith, no matter how fragile it seemed, could prove remarkably hard to kill.

_Not unlike me,_ Jazz mused. _And others,_ he added mentally with a glance to the only other occupant of the room.

As if sensing his attention Sideswipe fidgeted impatiently and asked, "What's taking so long?"

"Slagged if I know," his tone would have been kinder if this hadn't been the twentieth time he'd given the answer. "This is a first for me too. How's Sunny doing?"

"Nervous as hell. I can't get anything else from him."

"Well all I can say is First-Aid's a good medic, I'm sure everything will be fine."

"I wish he'd let us in though, I know Blue's with him but he's probably shitting kittens by now so he won't be much use."

"Give him some credit Sides."

"I am."

They fell into silence again and Jazz found himself wishing that he knew what to say.

Eventually the door they had been waiting for opened without warning and First Aid stepped out. "You can…" he wasn't given the chance to finish before Sideswipe pushed past him.

"Thank you," Jazz said warmly. "How did it go?"

"Considering I haven't done the procedure before, I think everything went well and they're doing fine. Go on in Jazz, they're waiting for you, but don't stay too long."

Jazz stepped into the med-bay, and wasn't even given the chance to look round before Bluestreak snatched up his hand and pulled him over to where Sunstreaker was leaning against a berth. His brother was pressed close to his shoulder and they had identical grins on their faces as they looked down at the tiny, pale blue form in Sunstreakers arms.

"Jazz," Bluestreak grinned. "We'd like you to meet Starlight."

Jazz bent a little closer and looked down into the brightest, most beautiful pair of blue optics he had ever seen..

"You want to hold her?" Sunstreaker offered.

"I don't know how to," he admitted.

"You did with me," Bluestreak pointed out.

"You weren't that small."

"Come here," Bluestreak directed with mock impatience and he rearranged Jazz's arms quickly. "There, now all you have to do is relax."

"Hey, now that I can do," Jazz grinned. He knew that he had to at least sound confident for the sake of Bluestreak and the tiny femme that was being held out to him. "Come here baby girl," he crooned softly. "I've got you babe."

"Sunny and I were talking last night," Bluestreak said quietly. "About families and how we would be one today and I got to thinking; you're the closest thing I ever had to a creator, or a dad…"

Jazz tore his attention away from the sparkling and met looked up. Bluestreaks nervousness although not uncommon had always been a worry for him, and he couldn't understand why it should be present in that moment.

"What he's trying to say," Sunstreaker picked up. "Is that we'd like it, if you'd like…"

"Starlight to call you Grandpa," Bluestreak finished in a rush. "I got the right word didn't I?"

"Perfect Blue," Jazz reassured him. "Sunny can you take Starlight back please?"

Once his hands were free he turned to face Bluestreak. "I don't have the words to say how honoured I would be," he said sincerely. "In all the time we've known each other you've given me a million moments that I treasure, reasons to carry on when I thought I was done, and now because of you I have the most beautiful lil' femme I've ever seen as a granddaughter," he reached out and drew the younger mech into a fierce hug, his intakes hitching as he fought for just enough control over his emotions to say two more words, "Thank you."

"Does that mean I get to be Uncle Sideswipe?" the red twin asked impatiently.

"'Course it does slag for brains," his brother snapped.

"Sunstreaker," Bluestreak scolded his mate.

"What?" he whined, "She's five minutes old Blue. She's not going to remember this."

"I know that, but I don't want a rerun of the Beachcomber incident."

"Yeah, there's no one to pin the blame on this time," Sideswipe chuckled, although it sounded slightly forced. "Can I hold her now?"

As the twins bickered as only they could Jazz took Bluestreaks hand. Ever the perfectionist, Sunstreaker refused to hand over his daughter until he was positive that his brother would hold her right, but Sideswipe was too eager so things took longer than they should have.

Eventually though Sunstreaker was satisfied and his brother got what he wanted. The strangest thing was that it all seemed so natural. The twins had been warriors for most of their lives, everyone knew just how fearsome they could be, and exactly what they had been capable of, but in that moment their pasts seemed to disappear.

Sideswipe didn't say anything once Starlight was in his arms, he just rocked her gently and watched her.

Bluestreaks hand squeezed Jazz's and the two of them shared a quick smile. It had been a while since any of them had felt so happy, and it was only natural for them to bask in the glory of it, but Jazz also understood that Bluestreak and Sunstreaker needed their time together.

"C'mon Uncle Sides. Aid'll start on at us if we tire everyone out," he said kindly.

He was expecting Sideswipe to put up a fight but he didn't. The red twin simply handed Starlight over to Bluestreak, and Jazz found himself suddenly unable to look away from them. He had waited so long to see the look of pure contentment, peace and joy in the younger mechs face and it was every bit as beautiful as he had imagined it would be.

Sideswipe pulled him away impatiently and they walked out together, but they didn't get far before Sideswipe stopped and leant against a wall. "I must be getting old. That was too much for me," he admitted. "I'm so happy for them but at the same time…" he didn't finish the sentence but he didn't have to.

"It's reminds us of what we wanted once, and what we lost," Jazz whispered and the red twin nodded.

"I need some high-grade, coming?"

"I'll catch you up, there's something I've got to do first, but I won't be long, I promise."

"I'll get some in then."

They parted ways and a couple of minutes later Jazz got back to his quarters and everything suddenly felt too quiet.

It wasn't silence he needed, just privacy. When Optimus Prime had announced that the Golden Age had begun again he hadn't listened for two reasons; the lesser of the two was that he had heard those promises before and they had been broken, the second was that without Prowl to share his life with it had all seemed meaningless, but that day he had realised that he was wrong. He had found the peace that he had spent most of his life waiting and hoping for in a pair of sky blue optics.

Knowing the truth left him with one thing to do. He reached into his sub-space and pulled out his side-arm. He had carried that weapon, or one like it since he had become involved in the war, and they had saved his life and those of his friends more times that he ever wished to count.

There was a secure cabinet in his room that held all sorts of things he couldn't bear to throw away, but hardly ever used, plus a few little treasures that he had collected in his long life and could never part with.

With care that had been drilled into him he placed the gun inside the locker, and closed it before he headed down to the rec room, where Sideswipe was waiting for him.

* * *

As evening settled in over Metroplex Sunstreaker and Bluestreak returned to their quarters, both mechs looked exhausted but happy, and Jazz found himself grinning every time he looked at them, but it wasn't long before they turned in for the night and Jazz was left alone again, with nothing to do but think.

He was roused out of his misery sometime later when Bluestreak returned to the living room with Starlight in his arms.

"Thought you'd gone to bed," Jazz said as he forced a smile into his face.

"Tried to," Bluestreak said tiredly. "But she won't settle, Sunny's wiped out after the separation and Sides is with him, so I'm..." he cut himself off. "I don't mind, I just..."

"Want to recharge," Jazz finished for him. "I know what it's like Blue, may I?" he asked as he held out his arms to take the sparkling.

"Be my guest, she's not hungry or tired, just grouchy," Bluestreak informed him.

"You can't help that, can you?" Jazz asked her in his softest voice. "Take a seat Blue, I'll watch her for a while."

Bluestreak sank gratefully onto the couch while Jazz rocked Starlight in his arms and hummed softly. When he looked up a few minutes later Bluestreak was curled up on his seat and deep in recharge.

Jazz smiled. "Blue never could stay online through that one," he told the little femme in a conspiratorial whisper. "But you're a stubborn one, aren't you? Tell you what, why don't we get some fresh air?"

With well practiced silence Jazz pushed open the door to their little balcony and stood looking up at the stars. "I guess it's time we had a little chat," he said after a while. "There are things you need to know and I'm not going to be here forever. You'll understand one day, I think your daddy's starting to now he has a bonded of his own, but there are some things that he'd never know how to tell you."

Starlight peered up at him and chirped intelligently, Jazz was fairly sure that she couldn't understand him yet, but she seemed to like the sound of his voice. "I want you to know that I love you, and your daddy, Primus, even the twins," Jazz continued regretfully. "You were what we fought for, and I wish I could stay and watch you grow up, but your grandpa Prowl's waiting for me, and I never could resist him so I won't be around forever, but I'll always be watching over you."

"Maybe he sent you back because you needed to be here for her," Sideswipe suggested.

Starlight gave an indignant squeak at the interruption, while Jazz jumped and whirled round to see Sideswipe leaning against the door frame. "Primus Sides, don't do that!" he scolded the red twin. "When did you get so good at sneaking around anyway?"

"I learned from the best," Sideswipe answered, tipping his head slightly to the older mech. "Do you think I'm right?" he pressed.

"I don't know what to think," Jazz admitted. "When we went off to Cybertron I was sure that I wasn't coming back, I didn't want to either, but since then things have been easier, I've found that I'm looking forward to things again and of course this little bundle has helped a lot, but part of me is still missing and I won't get that back until I'm with Prowl again."

Sideswipe nodded, he had never been bonded but he had been loved, and he knew how much it hurt when that love was ripped away. "I found Blue on the couch and carried him to his berth."

"Thanks," Jazz grinned. "How's Sunny?"

"Better than he was," Sideswipe answered. "I talked to First Aid, he reckons that there might be something about twin-sparks, that maybe they're not supposed to be carriers, he wants to study it, I thought I'd stop being a medical curiosity when Ratch..." he cut himself off abruptly.

"You've been thinking about him a lot lately, haven't you?" Jazz asked softly.

Sideswipe nodded. "More since Optimus came back," he admitted. "I can't help wondering... do you think there's a chance...?"

"I wish I knew," Jazz answered the unfinished question. "All I know is that Prowl promised miracles, and here I am with one in my arms."

The red twin looked down at the tiny sparkling, who seemed to have gotten bored with all the talking and drifted into recharge, and smiled fondly. "I guess you're right," he said quietly. "Looks like she's ready for her berth too."

"Yeah," Jazz agreed. "I think she just wanted to see a little bit of her world before she was ready. C'mon lil' Lady, time to say goodnight."

**Author's note:** Before anyone says anything, I'm fairly sure that I have seen the name Starlight around before, but I do have a reason for using the name. In the past sailors used the stars to navigate, now I don't claim to be able to find my way home by using that method, but I have learned that when I'm lost the best chance I have is to let my friends guide me, so she is named in honour of all the wonderful people who have become my stars over the years.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Yuk. Blue she spit-up on me again."

Jazz hid a smirk as he looked round at the irate twin, a month earlier he would have bet everything he owned that it would have been Sunstreaker saying those words, but although he had been caught out several times by his daughter, he hadn't complained once. Sideswipe, on the other hand, was different story.

"You said you wanted to feed her," Bluestreak snapped, but he was grinning to as he threw a towel at the red twin, and went back to his datapad.

Sunstreaker hurried into the room, laughed at the mess his brother was in, dropped a quick kiss onto Bluestreak's chevron and then another onto Starlight's cheek before he picked up the cube of energon that was waiting for him.

"Late again Sunny?" his brother teased him.

"Not yet," he replied cheerfully. "Have you got much on today Blue?"

"No. What do you need?"

"Benny's got an order waiting for me, can you pick it up? I'm not going to get the time and I need it for tomorrow morning."

"Sure, once Star's down for her afternoon recharge, I'll slip out into town, so long as someone can be here for her."

"I'll be around," Jazz volunteered.

"I should be back by then too," Sideswipe answered at almost the same time.

"Great, thanks guys. Okay I'm out of here. Starlight be good. See you later Blue," And he was gone again.

"Blue while you're in town could you get him a watch?" Sideswipe asked. "I think his chronometer's busted."

Bluestreak chuckled. "He'd never use it and he'll never, ever be a morning 'bot either, but his classes are so popular, and he's had to crunch them together so that he can have an extra free day with me and Star, so what's a mech to do?"

"We know all that Blue. He takes great pride in telling us at least twice a week," Sideswipe replied before he went back to his task of feeding Starlight.

They had all been surprised when Sunstreaker had announced that he was taking on teaching the human children of Metroplex how to draw, but the yellow twin had proved himself time and again by then, and as more and more humans and Autobots had asked if he could teach them the jokes had subsided.

* * *

A few hours later Jazz returned to their quarters after spending his morning helping Blaster with the comms. He put on some music, found himself some energon and prepared to spend his afternoon relaxing to some tunes that Blaster had loaned him.

"Okay. Starlight's down," Bluestreak announced as he rushed in from one of the side rooms. "I'd better get gone. I'll be two hours max."

"Take your time Blue. I can handle her if she wakes up."

Sideswipe wandered in as Bluestreak left. He was and covered in grime and grinning from audio to audio. "I'll tell you what I did when I get out of the wash rack," he beamed before he walked through another door.

Jazz shook his head in amusement and settled back down. For a little while he indulged himself in his idea of heaven before the comm screen interrupted. "What now?" He muttered as he reached out to accept the call. "Ja…" He didn't even finish saying his own name before he realised who he was looking at and his vocaliser stalled.

"Sit down Jazz and close your mouth," a voice that he had never expected to hear again told him firmly.

"I… I don't understand," he forced himself to say as he complied with the request.

"Which is why I'm calling you and not Prime."

"But Ratch…" he began but words failed him again.

"I know," Ratchet nodded. "And I know that you're going to have a lot of questions. So how about I promise to be patient if you promise to listen, deal?"

"You're on," Jazz agreed as he tried desperately to stop himself from shaking.

"When Optimus opened the Matrix some of us saw it as a chance to be with the ones that we love, but we got nowhere until the Matrix itself was merged with Vector Sigma, he sensed our need, calculated that we still had a lot left to live for, and started making plans for our new bodies. It was Prime's decision that I should be first so that I could help with the others."

"Sounds like Optimus."

"I don't think he believed that it would work, and it's taken months, but here I am. Living proof."

"What about…?" he couldn't finish the question. There was so much for him to take in and all off it was baffling to him.

"We'll be bringing Prowl back as soon as you can get to Cybertron. I know that he'd want you to be close by when he wakes up," the medic said warmly.

"Can it be done on Earth?" Jazz asked.

"Yes. Why?"

"Bluestreak would want to be there too, and there's no way he's leaving the planet right now."

"Tell me the reason why," Ratchet requested, his tone was light but still carried a no-nonsense edge. "If it's good enough I'll talk to Optimus."

"Just over a month ago he and Sunstreaker had a sparkling. She's too young for space flight and he'd never leave her behind."

Ratchet didn't bother to hide his grin. "What's her name?" he asked curiously.

"Starlight, and you oughta see her Ratch. She's beautiful."

"I don't doubt that."

"What kind of sick joke is this?" Sideswipe demanded from the doorway, Jazz turned expecting to meet the red twin's angry glare, but instead all he saw was anguish. It was clear that Sideswipe didn't believe what he was seeing, and the loss that he had been suffering and trying to survive for over a year was plain in his optics.

"It's no joke Sides," Ratchet said quietly. "I'm as alive as you are."

"No," the red twin pleaded. "You can't be, please stop this, I can't believe you, I can't lose you again. I can't. I can't," his whole body shook as he spoke and the grief in his voice seemed about to tear him apart.

Jazz approached him slowly. Somehow it was easier for him to be calm for someone else's sake rather than his own. "It's alright," he whispered soothingly. "There's no trick I promise you, no lie, they're coming back to us because they need us as much as we need them."

"Who?"

"Myself, Wheeljack, Red Alert, Hound and Prowl," Ratchet answered.

"Is this real?" Sideswipe whispered.

"As real as it gets," Jazz answered softly.

Slowly Sideswipe approached the view-screen and lifted his hand to touch it, Ratchet mirrored his movements so that their hands looked like they were only separated by a sheet of glass. "It's going to be alright Sideswipe," the medic assured him. "I'll be with you soon."

"I love you," the red twin murmured. "I never thought I'd get to say that again."

"Love you too," Ratchet responded fondly. "But I have to get back to work," he raised his optics to look at Jazz before he spoke again. "Take care of him for me, I'll be in touch as soon as I can."

"Will do Ratch," Jazz nodded. "See you soon," Ratchet ended the comm before Jazz muttered. "But soon enough."

Sideswipe nodded hesitantly. "I… I'm… not sure… what to do now," he admitted.

"We wait," Jazz advised him. "It won't be easy as they are all we want from the world, but we wait and remember that the mechs we love, the mechs who have saved us and made us better by loving us are coming home."

* * *

Bluestreak hadn't even left Metroplex before the overwhelming sensation of disbelief and despair washed through his bond with Sunstreaker, followed closely by pure, unbridled rage, the suddenness of it almost toppled him, but once he could balance again he raced through the corridors to the room that Sunstreaker had taken over as a studio cum classroom.

He didn't reach that destination either as, despite the confusion in his processor, Bluestreak managed to spot his bond-mate moving hastily through the crowds ahead of him. "Sunstreaker, wait up!" he called out.

The golden mech slowed his pace slightly to allow Bluestreak to catch him up, but wouldn't stop, "What is it?" Bluestreak asked urgently as he drew level with his lover.

"It's not me," Sunstreaker snapped. "It's Sideswipe, and it feels like someone just tried to rip his spark out. Whoever it was is going to wish that they'd never been created before I get through with them."

"And then I'll fix them up so you can kill them all over again," Bluestreak added, it wasn't an idle threat either, or just an effect of his bond with Sunstreaker. Sideswipe was one of his oldest and best friends and no one was going to get away with upsetting the red twin, they had all suffered enough already.

Sunstreaker was the first through the door, he took one look at his twin and rounded on Jazz. "What the frag did you do?" he demanded as he caught the former saboteur by the shoulder and spun him so that they were face to face.

Jazz twisted out of the hold on instinct and suddenly his stance was all deadly grace. "Don't push it Sunstreaker," he warned.

Bluestreak and Sideswipe stepped between them as one. "Everyone calm down," Bluestreak ordered as soothingly as he could given the tempest of emotions that seethed through his bond.

Jazz was the first to back down, and with his anger gone he slumped down into a chair. Sunstreaker glared at the black and white for a moment longer then looked to Sideswipe. "What happened?" he asked.

"I heard Jazz talking, came in to see who it was..." his twin began weakly. "but I couldn't believe what I was seeing..." he broke off and looked at Jazz hoping for some help.

Jazz let a rather shaky stream of air out of his vents, "It was Ratchet," he whispered. "He's alive, and on Cybertron."

Sideswipe seemed to crumble at the visored mechs words. "He's back," he murmured, although he sounded like he didn't quite believe it.

"Easy Sides," Sunstreaker murmured soothingly as he wrapped a supportive arm around his twin. "It's going to be okay."

As Sideswipe nodded and held on to his brother as if he was afraid that the world might crumble away from at any moment, Bluestreak remained exactly where he was and stared at Jazz, his friend's news seemed completely unbelievable, to good to be true, and if Sideswipe hadn't confirmed it Bluestreak would have been sure that Jazz had finally taken leave of his senses.

"And Prowl?" the younger mech asked, barely daring to hope.

"Ratch said..." Jazz began hesitantly. "He said... that... Prowl's coming back to... Ratch told me that he'll bring him to Earth and..." Jazz's vocaliser gave out and he buried his face in his hands.

Bluestreak hurried to the black and white's side and hugged him tight. "It's alright," he said softly. Over Jazz's helm he shared a quick glance with his bond-mate. "Or at least it will be."


	10. Chapter 10

A.N. Well it's taken me an age, but I finally got this part done. I can only apologise but in my defence I've had a lot going on, and as much as I hate to admit it real life has to come first. This chapter has been through so many rewrites and edits that it isn't even funny, I have done my best with it and I can only hope that I don't disappoint anyone. I don't think I realised when I started this story how hard it would be to finish it, but with around four more chapters to go at least I'm getting there. Until next time, take care. FB.

**Chapter 10**

With his spark feeling as if it was trying to fight it's way out of his chest-cavity Sideswipe took his place at the end of the line. Beside him Jazz shifted uneasily, the visored mech didn't seem sure whether he should watch or not as the shuttle made its final approach. Next to the black and white Bluestreak stood watching the skies and rocking Starlight in his arms in an effort to keep both of them calm, and at the far end Sunstreaker mirrored his own posture.

Sideswipe couldn't help thinking that must have looked like a pair of bookends, but the unspoken reason for their positions was far more serious, at the first sign of trouble they would become shields, and do their best to protect the other two.

The red twin had never considered either of his friends weak, granted Bluestreak had his issues, but this time, for the first time in Sideswipe's memory, their main worry was Jazz.

In all the time Sideswipe had known the visored mech Jazz had been the one who dealt with everything that had been thrown at them, and usually found time to help others through their troubles too, but in the last few months the former saboteur had become less resilient, each of his friends had seen it at one point or another, a hesitation here, a mood-swing there, and they were becoming more common.

Jazz had covered his slips well, dismissed his sombre moods, and laughed off his tempers by calling them hissy-fits and saying that they were nothing new, but none of his bravado helped his friends feel any better.

Bluestreak shuffled as the craft came into land, as a group they moved together, wrapping arms around the others in reach and trading glances with those they could not, but none of them spoke, there were no words that could soothe them at that moment.

Though their bond he could feel Sunstreaker's thoughts focus, and he recognised it as a warrior's discipline, a state of awareness that until then had always been reserved for fighting Decepticons. The golden twin was waiting for a threat, a sign that one of his friends needed protecting.

Bluestreak found his lover's vigilance reassuring, they all knew that the meeting would be intense, perhaps even painful, but he was confident that Sunstreaker wouldn't allow things to become too stressful, and if the young mech read things right neither would Sideswipe, so long as he could hold it together.

As the hold doors opened Jazz looked away, and braced himself to run, his processor raced in panic, but he held himself still by sheer force of will.

A gentle hand touched his shoulder. "It's alright Jazz," a familiar voice murmured, as the hand moved to his chin and pulled his head up.

"Wheeljack," Jazz whispered in a tone filled with joy and disbelief. "By Primus, 'Jack," he launched himself into the inventor's arms and held him tight.

"It's going to be alright," Wheeljack reiterated.

As the embrace soothed his frazzled circuits Jazz became aware that it was too quiet, he looked around and saw Hound and Optimus talking softly with Bluestreak and Sunstreaker, but it wasn't until he glanced up towards the shuttle that he realised why there was so little noise. Ratchet hadn't even made it halfway down the disembarking ramp before Sideswipe had caught him in a crushing hug, and started doing his best to kiss the medic senseless.

The sound of deep, rich laughter snapped Jazz's attention over to Optimus. "I guess that explains why Ratchet didn't stop fidgeting the whole way here," the Prime chuckled, when he noticed that the former saboteur was looking at him. "The problem with being a commander is that no one ever tells you anything. How long has this been going on?" he asked with a gesture to the two mechs, who had just realised that they were the centre of attention.

"Only a few hundred years," Sunstreaker informed him dryly. "Didn't you ever wonder why they always fought so much?"

"I assumed that they couldn't stand each other," Optimus replied, his voice still heavy with amusement. "But I should have realised why they kept going back for more."

Jazz chuckled and leant his head on Wheeljack's shoulder, with some of his oldest friends back in his life he was happier than he had been in months, but he also knew that the hardest reunion was yet to come.

Ratchet smiled warmly and glanced at his lover. "It's time," he said apologetically. "But it shouldn't take long."

Sideswipe nodded reluctantly and pulled away. "Let them do their work," he said quietly although everyone present could tell that he didn't want to leave his lover again so soon.

* * *

Prowl felt his systems boot-up sluggishly, after what seemed like an eternity his optics came into focus and then he could only stare. The miracles he had hoped for had been realised, he was alive, and looking up into the faceplates of the mech who meant everything to him.

The first thing he noticed was that the bond they had shared for half a lift-time, that to Prowl had always felt like a thread of pure life, and that had given them a window into each others thoughts and feelings, was gone, broken. He felt as if the loss of it might tear him apart, and if the bewildered look on Jazz's faceplates was anything to go by it was worse for his lover.

He had known it would be, but feeling it's loss without the protection the Matrix offered was agony. _There was no other way, _he told himself sternly. _Jazz had to live, and the bond was supposed to keep us together._ It felt like a high price to pay for being alive, but with it came a second chance, a new life with the mech he loved and he was sure it would be worth it.

"Jazz," the simple pleasure of saying his lover's name was the answer to his prayers.

Jazz gazed back as if he didn't dare believe what he was seeing, but after a brief hesitation he spoke in a hushed whisper. "I'm sorry."

_You're not the one who should be apologising,_ Prowl thought as he sat up slowly and cupped his lovers face in his hands. "You've done nothing to be sorry for," he assured his lover.

"I wanted to follow you," Jazz continued as if he hadn't heard him. "For us to be together in the Matrix, but when the time came..."

"It wasn't your time," Prowl picked up when Jazz faltered. "You did the right thing."

"Forgive me," Jazz pleaded.

"There's nothing for me to forgive..." Prowl began, more than anything he wanted to make his own apologies, but Jazz cut him off.

"Please," he begged. "Say it and mean it. I promised to be yours forever, but I couldn't keep my word."

_And how many broken promises did I leave you with, _Prowl thought, but as Jazz's trembling hands touched his he knew that he needed to put his lover's needs first. "There was so much we didn't know then," he said calmly as he wrapped his arms around Jazz. "And you will always be _my _Jazz, but, as you need to hear it, I forgive you. I forgive you for being the most wonderful, beautiful mech that I have ever met, for being strong enough to carry on without me for the sake of our friends, and for holding on so that I would have someone to come back too."

Even without their bond Prowl could tell that Jazz was fighting for control of his emotions. He couldn't blame his lover for being so close to breaking down, but it was also a huge relief that Jazz did not blame him for everything that happened. There was so much that still needed to be said and done, so much that he didn't even know where to start, but as he heard the med-bay doors open Prowl knew it would have to wait.

He looked up to see Bluestreak shuffling awkwardly by the door and smiled to put the younger mech at ease. "It's good to see you looking so well Bluestreak," he said softly. He was actually impressed that the grey mech wasn't in a similar state to Jazz; Bluestreak had never coped well with being separated from either of them.

Bluestreak seemed unable decide what to say first, gave up and cannonballed into Prowl. Jazz moved over slightly so that he wasn't crushed, but refused point-blank to let go of his lover.

"I'm so glad you're back," Bluestreak grinned. "We've missed you. We've all missed you," the young mech twisted a little and looked over his shoulder to where Sunstreaker was standing.

Prowl hadn't heard the golden twin come in, and the positioning was too perfect. "Bonded?" he whispered, he already knew the answer.

Bluestreak nodded. "And there's more."

Sunstreaker took a few steps forward so that Prowl could see the sparkling in his arms. "This is Starlight."

"By Primus," Prowl gasped. "Oh Blue," he forced himself to steady his emotions, there were so many of them, joy, love, pride, sorrow that he had missed so much and caused the ones he loved so much grief, it was overwhelming. He pulled Jazz closer again. "I never dared... never allowed myself to think beyond the war, of what could happen next. We could have shared so much joy. I'm so sorry Jazz."

Jazz reached up and traced the line of his lover's cheek-plate. "Kiss me," he requested softly. "And make it a good one," he added with the barest hint of one of _those_ smiles that Prowl had always found himself powerless to resist, even if he had wanted to.

Knowing that Jazz trusted actions rather than words Prowl pressed his lips against his lovers in a deep, tender kiss, he poured his spark into the contact, wishing that his bond-mate would be able to sense how deeply sorry he was that Jazz had been forced to stumble on alone through what could have been some of the happiest days of their lives.

"You're forgiven," Jazz whispered when they broke apart. "I love you."

"And I love you Jazz," Prowl responded softly. "You are my life, and I'm nothing without you."

"If they keep this up we're going to need tissues," someone said with an exaggerated sniff, and Prowl looked round to see Sideswipe standing beside Ratchet pretending to wipe his optics. Prowl realised in that moment that Wheeljack, Hound and Optimus Prime were also stood close by.

It seemed that half the Ark were standing around the mad-bay and Prowl, who had never been much for public displays of affection, couldn't help wondering if he had been set up. He was all too aware of how sneaky Jazz could be when he put his processor to it.

He dismissed the thought quickly, it didn't really matter, he was willing to give Jazz anything he could if it went a little way to easing some of the pain he had caused.

The whole mess didn't seem fair. Their time apart hadn't been easy on Prowl either, but he had been part of the Matrix and through the peace he had found there he had been healed.

He realised that Jazz was watching him with some concern and smiled. "I'm fine," he said softly. "Just a little overwhelmed."

Jazz nodded meekly and Prowl worried about how little fight was left in his lover, as if just staying alive had used up all Jazz's considerable determination and strength. _Looks like I'll have to be the strong one for a while,_ Prowl thought. It wasn't unusual for one of them to take the lead when the other was struggling, it was one of the practical attributes of any bond, but it had been a long time since Jazz had needed that sort of support.

"Okay," Ratchet said firmly, "Everybody out. I have things to do."

Prowl reached out a hand and Jazz took it gratefully. A quick glance told him that only Sideswipe hadn't moved. The red mech looked torn, utterly bewildered by Ratchet's manner, but a little reassurance from his twin seemed to bolster his courage and he remained behind as the others filed out.

"He's been waiting for Ratchet for a long time," Sunstreaker informed the crowd. "He won't be coming back out any time soon, and Starlight is about ready for a little recharge, shall we?"

Wheeljack shook his head and looked at Hound. "It's time we were going."

The Prime nodded. "Thank you for everything," he said sincerely.

Jazz picked up on his former commander's tone and looked slightly puzzled. "Going? where?"

Wheeljack nodded to the green scout who until then had been watching them all. "Hound and I are off to find Trailbreaker and Mirage," the engineer said as he extended a hand, but Jazz knocked it aside and hugged him instead.

"Take care 'Jack, and keep in touch," he said warmly.

"Will do," Wheeljack agreed. "So long as you two look after each other."

"Count on it," Prowl nodded.

"I'll walk you and Hound out, Wheeljack," Optimus volunteered. Wheeljack nodded warmly and Prime turned to the others. "As your former commanding officer," he began fondly. "I order all of you to lead long and happy lives."

"Yes Sir," the two black and whites' agreed with accompanying nods from Bluestreak and Sunstreaker, even Starlight chirped happily.

Once Optimus and the others were gone the remaining mechs headed back to their quarters, where Sunstreaker excused himself almost immediately.

Prowl smiled as he looked around. "We've never had so much room," he observed.

"That's pretty much what Sunny said," Bluestreak told him. "But we filled it easy enough."

Prowl looked around, the bright, airy rooms were huge in comparison to the ones he and Jazz had shared aboard the Ark, and in Iacon before that, but Bluestreak was right, they were far from empty. Paintings and photographs adorned the walls, trinkets, book-files and various entertainment discs filled the shelves, one corner was taken up by a music system, another was stacked with Starlight's toys.

"It's amazing," Prowl said softly as he turned to face Jazz. "So full of life."

Jazz shot a very quick glance at Bluestreak, and led Prowl out onto the balcony where his lover was momentarily distracted. "Somehow I doubt that this is what the American government had in mind when they gave us a few square miles of desert to build a home on."

The vista below him was incredible, lush gardens flourished in the courtyards between towering columns and it was clearly thriving.

"Over a hundred 'bots live in Metroplex now and a minimum of twice as many humans are here at any one time, mostly scientists or astronauts," Jazz reported, knowing that his partner would be interested.

"It's amazing," Prowl smiled before his expression became serious again. "But I didn't come out here to see the view. There are things that need to be said, asked and explained, and I do have the answers Jazz. I had over a year in the Matrix to learn."

"What was it like?" Jazz asked curiously.

"Peaceful, calm, the knowledge of the ages flows freely and one of the first things I learned there was the true meaning of words, simple words, the ones we use everyday and take for granted; home, friends, family, love," he hesitated and cupped Jazz' face in his hands. "And I want to share it all with you, but not yet. The Matrix isn't to be feared, it is the haven we imagined but my paradise is right here with you."

Jazz could only stare. "I've can't remember the last time I heard you talk like that," he murmured after a moment.

"It was difficult," Prowl admitted. "Between logic circuits and battle computers there wasn't much room left for emotion. I never loved you with anything less than my whole spark, but being able to show it..."

"You never left me wanting," Jazz interrupted.

"I hope not" Prowl continued, "We both changed for the war, sacrifices and choices that we never should have been forced to make, and that wasn't the life we were supposed to have. I have no regrets, but you deserve better. I made so many promises to you but broke the ones that mattered most. I'm here now to put that right, to give you the life that I should have given you the first time around, and, Primus willing, to see you smile again."

Jazz gave him a slightly bashful but genuine smile, then reached up and pulled his lover down into a tender kiss.

"That's more like it," Prowl said softly as they broke apart.

* * *

Inside Bluestreak had tried to find something to do, but the events of the day had left his processor feeling scattered, restless. He needed to talk to Prowl to reassure himself, but he understood that Jazz had to come first. He wanted to see Ratchet, but couldn't bring himself to interrupt a moment that was obviously meant for Sideswipe, and despite his attempts at ignoring his own bond, it felt odd, he couldn't define it, but it almost felt as if Sunstreaker was trying to hide something from him. Deciding that at least that was one thing he could do something about he strode into his quarters.

He wasn't quite sure what he was expecting to find when he walked through the door, but seeing his lover leaning heavily on a wall certainly wasn't one of the options he had considered. "Sunny? What is it?" he asked worriedly. "Do you want me to call Ratchet?"

"Ratchet's busy," Sunstreaker answered as he shook himself and tried to stand straight. "That's kind of the problem."

Bluestreak didn't understand, and his confusion bled through their bond well enough for Sunstreaker to continue without being prompted.

"I'm fine," he assured his young lover. "But Sides and Ratch... well they're bonding and it feels... let's just say it's distracting."

Bluestreak laughed and took his bond-mates hands, which seemed to be enough to break Sunstreaker's restraint. The next thing Bluestreak new he was the one leaning on the wall for support.

* * *

A few hours later Sideswipe led Ratchet into the main room of their home, and joined the others who were all sat on the floor and playing with Starlight as they chatted lazily.

"Now isn't that a picture," Ratchet commented fondly.

"Hey Ratch, Sides," Jazz greeted them.

"Sunstreaker tells us that congratulations are in order," Prowl added.

A sudden thought occurred to Bluestreak, and he heard himself saying the words, "Not in the med-bay surely," before he could do anything to stop himself.

"Not that it's any of your business," Ratchet said loudly enough to be heard over the giggles that erupted around him, only Prowl managed to keep a straight face but the way he was avoiding looking at anyone else told Ratchet that he was struggling. "But no. Someone, Magnus I assume, gave me quarters."

If Ratchet had been human Jazz was sure that he would have been blushing, but instead he dropped down, settled himself and pulled Sideswipe down to lean against him with a satisfied hum of his engine.

For a moment the medic lost himself in the wonderful sensation of being so close to his new bond-mate, but when his attention returned to the rest of the room he realised that Bluestreak was regarding him thoughtfully. "What?" he asked, trying not to sound irritated that his moment of bliss had been interrupted.

"I was just thinking," Bluestreak mused, almost as if he was talking to himself. "It seems to me that we've got everything we ever wanted, and I was wondering what we are supposed to do next?"

"Well I reckon that after all the millennia we've put in we're all due a few hundred years vacation," Jazz said cheerfully. "What d'ya think Prowl?"

"That you'd be bored within a month," Prowl responded dryly. "But seeing a bit more of the world while it's not in immediate danger would be nice," the other mechs in the room all got the sense that he was planning something, but before they could question him Ratchet spoke up.

"Well I for one am looking forward to living a much less eventful life than I have for a long time, I may even have to get a hobby."

"Aren't I enough for you?" Sideswipe asked with a cheeky grin.

"You're much more to me than a pass-time," the medic said playfully. "But I can't see you wanting a grumpy, old mech like me under your feet all day, every day."

"At the moment I don't even want to let you out of my sight," Sideswipe said in a sincere tone.

Ratchet's nod was tinged with regret, and he pulled the red twin a little closer. "I'm not going anywhere," he assured him.

Jazz watched the exchange and took comfort in it. Although there had been good points, like Sunstreaker and Bluestreak's bonding and Starlight's creation, the past year had been the hardest of his long life, and he found himself feeling more relaxed than he had in a very long time.

* * *

The evening wore on, Ratchet and Sideswipe were the first to disappear to their quarters, and a few minutes later Sunstreaker said a hasty goodnight and retreated. Bluestreak couldn't help grinning as his lover gave him a look that held a little embarrassment but mostly desire, he almost followed the golden twin there and then, but he needed to do something else first.

In another corner of the room Jazz lay curled up against Prowl, he hadn't realised until Jazz had failed to say goodnight to Sunstreaker that Jazz was in recharge, but Prowl was still online.

"He hasn't been recharging properly, has he?" Prowl asked as he approached.

Bluestreak shook his head. "We've all tried to talk to him about it, but... well you know how stubborn he is."

Prowl extended an arm, and mindful of door-wings, they settled down to lean against each other. "It's a good thing he is," Prowl said regretfully. "Or he never would have survived the last few months. I've caused him so much pain that I don't understand how he can bear to look at me."

"He adores you," Bluestreak assured the older mech. "He'd do anything for you."

"I know," Prowl whispered. "He's more than proved that over the vorns."

"But you don't think you have," Bluestreak said slowly as he tried to wrap his processor around the concept. "Prowl, how can you think that? I've known the two of you nearly all my life, and I've never doubted the fact that you love each other more than anything."

"There are things you don't know," Prowl said flatly. "I've treated him badly, made him promises and then broken them, all but torn him apart. I came back to make all that right, but nearly destroyed him in doing so..."

Bluestreak looked alarmed. "You're going to have to explain some of what you just said to me," he said calmly, but with more than a hint of concern in his voice.

"You were with Jazz during the last battle for Cybertron, weren't you? You know that he almost died."

Bluestreak nodded and shuddered, he didn't want to think about what he could have lost that day. "He wasn't badly hurt," he said weakly. "But the plasma energy knocked us all offline, he didn't seem to want to come back."

"He didn't." Prowl confirmed. "He wanted to be with me, but by that time Vector Sigma was already planning our return. Bonds can be broken in the Matrix, I guess it's so that 'bots who've made the wrong choice don't have to spend eternity together, but I didn't have time to explain any of that to him. I needed him to live and the bond was killing him, I did the only thing I could, but I only bought us some time, do you understand? I couldn't undo the damage that had been done. I can only do that here."

For a moment Bluestreak could only stare, he couldn't imagine breaking his own bond, and the knowledge that Prowl had done such a thing shook him to the core. "Does Jazz know any of this?" he asked hesitantly.

"I think so," Prowl answered. "He hasn't said anything, but then Jazz doesn't often ask unnecessary questions."

"What will you do?"

"If I had my way we'd take a few years to fall in love all over again, but Jazz doesn't have that kind of time. I hope that you will forgive us but we need to be selfish for while, we need to focus on each other and you know what Jazz is like; he may love me with all that he is but it would only take something bright or loud to distract him." he said with a fond smile to his slumbering lover. "I promise you that I can help him, but the only way I can think of is to take him on the vacation he mentioned earlier."

"You're leaving?" Bluestreak realised. "When?"

"In the morning," Prowl said as he gently ran a finger down Jazz's cheek. "I know the last thing you want right now is for us to leave, that you need us, but we need each other more, do you understand?"

"I do," Bluestreak nodded. "I wouldn't have a year ago, but I've learnt a lot in that year. Sunny's my world, there's nothing I would do for him, and that's how it is with you and Jazz, isn't it? Two mech's, one life."

Prowl smiled, he was amazed by how much Bluestreak seemed to have matured during their time apart. Technically Bluestreak hadn't been a youngling for some time although that hadn't stopped Prowl from affectionately thinking of him as one, but it usually took vorns to go through the transformation that Bluestreak had managed in a little over a year. "I'll take good care of Jazz," he assured Bluestreak.

"I know," the younger mech said as he returned the smile. "You will keep in touch, won't you?"

"Do you think it's possible to deprive Jazz of his gossip?" Prowl asked dryly. "We'll both call in every few days, you have my word on that, but in the mean time I think I should be getting Jazz to his berth."

"Do you need any help?"

Prowl shook his head. "I've been doing this for a long time. Jazz always could recharge anywhere."

"So long as you're around," Bluestreak added.

With an ease that came from vorns of practice Prowl scooped Jazz up into his arms and picked his way across the room, Bluestreak followed as far as the door to the berth-chamber and watched as Prowl gently lay Jazz down on the recharge-pad. The tenderness in Prowl's actions warmed his spark and reassured him. "We should have known that you'd be back," he said in a soft whisper. "The two of you being apart never seemed right."

"Maybe this was just the way it had to be," Prowl ventured, but he quickly realised that he had to clarify his words when Bluestreak's expression became rather confused, and he quickly recrossed the room so that he wouldn't have to raise his voice. "Jazz and I weren't built to be warriors, we learnt the lessons of war the hard way, and it took a toll on both of us. We became accustomed to the violence, as terrible as it sounds at times we even enjoyed it, and maybe, just maybe, one of us had to go into the Matrix to learn what peace really meant so that he could come back and teach the other."

With a thoughtful nod Bluestreak said a quiet, "Goodnight," and headed off to his own rooms.

Prowl watched him go before he turned back to the berth and was surprised to see Jazz's visor glowing faintly. "Do you really think that's why?" Jazz asked.

"It's the only reason I can come up with," Prowl answered. "Maybe there is no reason, but I have to try to find one."

Jazz smiled softly, "It's good to know that you haven't changed," he whispered. "You look like you're not sure if you should stay or not."

Realising that he was standing more or less in the centre of the room Prowl couldn't help but agree, "I didn't want you to think I was being pushy."

"I don't think I've got the energy for anything other than recharging but I don't want you to go," Jazz said tiredly.

Prowl was grateful that his love had been so clear. He couldn't help feeling a little disappointed, but he reminded himself once more that Jazz needed time to readjust and couldn't help being thankful that Jazz was one of the most adaptable mechs he had ever met. "I love you," he said softly as he settled himself on the berth. "And I'm never leaving you again."

"I love you too," Jazz whispered as he shuffled closer and they embraced.

Recharge reclaimed Jazz quickly, but Prowl remained online for a little while just watching the mech in his arms and feeling more content than he had in an age.


	11. Chapter 11

A.N. Sorry about the wait, this story is fighting me tooth and nail, I'll admit that I'm struggling with it but I am determined to finish it; too many stories are left unfinished. And I wanted to get this chapter up and posted today for one simple reason; it's three years today that I posted my first story here, and I just wanted to thank my readers for the ride, it's been a blast and hopefully it will continue to be. You're all stars!

This chapter is almost a mini story in itself and for a while I thought about putting it up separately because it deals with different characters to the rest but I was worried that it might get lost among the thousands of other tales in this archive, so we'll leave Jazz and the others to their own devices for now (possibly not the best plan), and follow Wheeljack.

Just for the record I'm not particularly well travelled, so you'll just have to take any geographical or ecological errors as artistic licence. I'd love to visit both Italy and New Zealand, but for now I must be content with dreams.

* * *

**Chapter 11 **

The flight out to New Zealand had been nothing short of amazing in Wheeljack's opinion. Blue skies and fair weather had followed them all the way, and although his delight at being alive and back on Earth again had been interrupted several times by Hound's bouts of nervousness, Wheeljack was determined to enjoy himself and remain calm.

Hound had fidgeted and paced for most of the flight, but Wheeljack reasoned that it wasn't really the scout's fault. Hound was never truly comfortable inside, even in the best of situations, and knowing that he would be in a similar state in a few days helped Wheeljack's patience remain intact, until Sky Lynx finally announced that they were about to land.

Trailbreaker was waiting for them at the far end of the airfield. He looked every inch as impatient as Hound, and just as edgy.

Wheeljack held back. This meeting was really about the other two mechs, and he felt guilty enough about intruding. He watched from a discreet distance as Hound ran over to the big, black mech and was swept up into a loving embrace.

_Half your luck Hound, _Wheeljack thought. _And I'll be back where I belong in just a few days._

He'd hated each and every delay, even the necessary ones like bringing Prowl back. From the moment he had come back online all he had wanted was to be with Mirage, to know with certainty that he was where he was supposed to be.

Jazz's reactions to seeing Prowl again had only made things worse for Wheeljack. He needed Mirage in the same way the two black and whites needed each other, but like Prowl, Wheeljack hadn't been the one forced to carry on, and although the depth of Prowl and Jazz's relationship made his and Mirage's look like a first date, he still couldn't stand to even imagine the void that losing the spy would leave in his life.

"Hound's told me your plan," Trailbreaker said, wrenching Wheeljack from his thoughts. "We'll help all we can."

"Thank you," Wheeljack said. The words didn't seem like enough. He wouldn't have held it against Trailbreaker to refuse and want to spend time alone with the mech who obviously meant a great deal to him, but it seemed that Trailbreaker just wasn't wired that way.

He led them aboard Sky Lynx and within minutes they were airborne again.

Wheeljack sat the helm even though Sky Lynx had no need of his assistance. The other two mechs had a lot of catching up to do, and he had no intention of getting in their way if he could help it.

They flew to Italy racing the clouds. It was a slim lead that took them there, but all they had to go on was a 'thank you' note that had been sent to Metroplex a month or so before the Hate Plague, that stated a blue and white Autobot had helped a few holiday-makers after they had become lost.

"It's amazing," Hound said happily as they disembarked again. "There are plants here that I've never seen before and..."

"Hound," Trailbreaker said softly. "Focus."

Hound laughed gleefully, slung an arm around Trailbreaker's waist and looked around again. "Mirage was here," he told them after a moment, "Two, maybe three months ago, but so long as there are no other Cybertronians out there I should be able to track him. Shouldn't take more than a few days, then I can stop and smell the flowers."

"Then take holograms, categorise them and work out how they evolved in the local ecosystems," Trailbreaker said dryly.

Wheeljack was glad that his smirk was hidden by his facemask as the last thing he wanted to do was offend Hound, but the green mech didn't seem at all bothered. The only look he gave Trailbreaker was one filled with adoration and he said nothing before he transformed and led them off.

* * *

As night fell the three mechs stopped in a sheltered valley and Wheeljack realised that there was something he hadn't considered, recharging comfortably.

He was saved from powering-down in his alt-mode by Trailbreaker's forethought. At first Wheeljack wasn't quite sure what the enormous bag that Trailbreaker pulled out of his sub-space was, but as poles and material took shape and became a tent a little bigger than a two car garage he grinned and added another reason to the list of things he would be forever grateful to the big mech for.

Inside the mechs had to bend almost double if they stood up. but once they all sat down they were comfortable enough. They talked for a while, Hound glanced over a map trying to work out Mirage's most likely routes and any problems they might encounter, Trailbreaker gave them an account of some of his adventures and Wheeljack filled him in as best he could as to the goings on in Metroplex and on Cybertron.

"You take the recharge pad," Trailbreaker said amicably as the conversation gave out in favour of stretching and trying to get comfortable.

"I couldn't," Wheeljack protested, although he knew he really wanted to.

"Sure you can," the black mech insisted. "It's only made for one anyway," he reached out and unrolled a bundle that Wheeljack hadn't paid any attention to.

Gratefully he sank down onto the spongy substance. He had expected it to feel odd, but he was surprised when it didn't, and by the fact that it didn't snag on his armour when he moved.

"Rest well Wheeljack," Hound murmured, sounding as if he was already half in recharge.

"Goodnight," Wheeljack wished him before Trailbreaker pulled a cord and a wall of canvas fell between them.

* * *

Wheeljack came back online the following morning and glared at the canvas ceiling. _What is it with Autobots and orange?_ He wondered briefly, but he pushed the thought aside in favour of more important matters.

"Are you two online yet?" he asked in a volume that wouldn't disturb them if they weren't.

"Just about," Hound replied lazily. "I am anyway," and he pulled back the curtain to show that Trailbreaker was still slumbering, and curled tightly around the green mech. "C'mon baby, up and at 'um," Hound said warmly.

Trailbreaker grunted and onlined an optic. "We're not in the military anymore you know," he said gruffly.

"No, but we still have a job to do, and the sooner it's done the sooner you can have me all to yourself," Hound said brightly. "No offence Wheeljack."

"None taken," Wheeljack said dismissively. "I know it must be a pain in the aft having me along for your reunion."

"Mirage is my friend," Hound pointed out. "And I'll admit that there are things that I would be happier doing," he gave Trailbreaker a sly grin. "But I know that there aren't many Autobots that can track Mirage, and of the few that can I'm the only one on the right planet, besides I'd never forgive myself if I didn't try and something happened to ol' Mr Invisible."

For a moment Wheeljack just stared at Hound, the depth of concern that he found in the scout's optics surprised him. Mirage had always maintained that he was an outsider, a mech that few really cared for, but right there Wheeljack realised just how wrong his lover had been.

* * *

For several days the three mechs pushed hard, and Hound assured them that they were catching up. It seemed that Mirage had been in no hurry and might even have been walking if the speed they were gaining on him was anything to go by.

The countryside they passed through was nothing short of spectacular, even Wheeljack could admit that, and when he did he realised that it suited Mirage. _Nothing but the best for my beautiful blue and white,_ he mused as the miles disappeared under his tyres. _Nothing like the Cybertron he never stopped loving, but still magnificent in it's own way._

Their path rose higher, trees thinned and became smaller as they climbed into a mountain range.

"Why would Mirage come up here?" Trailbreaker asked as the rocky path forced Wheeljack to transform and walk. The other two mechs were built for rougher terrain but they slowed their pace so that the engineer could keep up.

"Maybe he was lost," Hound suggested.

"He helped those tourists find their way," Trailbreaker reminded his partner.

"Mirage loves culture, beauty, but not open spaces," Wheeljack muttered. "The mountains would give him privacy, but there are more accessible places. I think Hound's right. I think he was lost, and in the worst possible way. He was miserable and lonely, hurting too badly to think straight. I promised to love him and protect him, but instead I caused him so much pain he ran as far, and as fast, as he could."

"Most of us did," Trailbreaker said miserably. "But you shouldn't blame yourselves," he added quickly. "Whether what happened was fate or chance it was out of your hands, and finding fault doesn't help anyone."

Trailbreaker's advice was rational and reassuring, but Wheeljack couldn't help feeling guilty. His death might not have been his fault, but if Mirage hadn't cared so much for him the spy wouldn't have gone off alone.

* * *

In the days that followed the landscape, though still impressive, turned against them. The rocks became larger, their path all but disappeared and even Hound was heard grumbling more than once, but when Wheeljack stumbled for what seemed like the hundredth time he found something that made him more determined than anything Trailbreaker had tried to encourage him with.

There, only inches from his optics, was a scrape of blue paint, and not just any blue, it was what he affectionately thought of as Mirage blue.

"Are you alright 'Jack?" Hound asked, in truth he was more worried by the fact that Wheeljack wasn't cursing, as was his usual habit when he took a tumble, than anything else.

"Fine," Wheeljack answered. "Look what I've found."

Hound bent a little closer, and grinned. "It's no more than a week old," he said confidently. "We'll find him soon."

It was in fact only a few hours later, as dusk began to settle, that Hound led them to the mouth of a cave. "He's here," he said quietly. "'Breaker, can you radio Sky Lynx? while I try to find somewhere for him to land."

Knowing that the next task was his alone Wheeljack stepped into the darkness. "'Mirage?" he called softly. "'Raj, it's me."

No answer came, but Wheeljack wasn't surprised, just concerned. In the days since Hound had suggested Mirage was lost, Wheeljack had come up with only one rather morbid reason why Mirage would have come so far.

Less than a minute later his fears were confirmed, at the far end of the cave Mirage leant against the rough wall. His optics were dark and his although his paint-job still held it's colour it's lustre was gone. The spy was in terrible shape and barely functional.

"Oh 'Raj," Wheeljack murmured as he knelt at his lover's side. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. This shouldn't have happened." gently he eased the blue and white mech into his arms and held him close. "I've got you," he whispered even though Mirage couldn't hear him and he continued to talk softly until Trailbreakers curiosity got the better of him.

"How is he?" the black mech asked from the cave entrance.

"Not good," Wheeljack called back.

Trailbreaker stepped inside and once he had looked Mirage over he started fixing up an emergency energon feeder. "Sky Lynx will be here soon after dawn, and Hound's found him a landing site, he's clearing it up a bit to make things easier."

They didn't set up their tent that night, they used the cave and recharged by turns so that someone could keep an optic on Mirage. They weren't expecting him to come back online, but none of them were willing to leave him alone.

Hound came back online as daylight began to return to the cave, he saw Wheeljack leaning against the wall of the cave with Mirage held close. "Any change?" he asked softly so that he wouldn't disturb Trailbreaker.

"His spark is a little stronger," Wheeljack answered. "At least we can move him. Hopefully Ratchet will be able to help him when we get back to Metroplex."

"I'm sure he will," Hound said encouragingly. "I'm going to see if there's any sign of Sky Lynx." he added and he lumbered outside stretching his shoulder struts as he went.

Sky Lynx arrived less than an hour later and after a rather tricky landing and take off they were on their way to Metroplex.

* * *

As Sky Lynx banked lazily around the last of the high hills that had obscured the view Wheeljack realised he was home. Below him Metroplex seemed to bring the dessert that surrounded it for miles alive, and in a spark-pulse barren wasteland became a thriving community. To the engineer the city was a true testament to the Autobots adaptability and determination.

Wheeljack had heard Earth stories of a city called Utopia, a peaceful, idealistic, heavenly place that existed only in the minds of those who dared to dream of a better world. For millennia Wheeljack hadn't been one of those beings. He had witnessed the destruction of the city of his creation, then seen his whole world ripped apart by war, he had lost loved ones and thought that he would never be cared for again, but as he drew closer to the city-state that the Autobots had created on Earth he knew he had been wrong, and about so many things.

Somewhere among the distant stars Cybertron had been revived, it's citizens lived in peace both there and on the wonderful planet that Wheeljack and his friends had discovered. And, most importantly of all to the engineer, he had found love again.

From the moment he had come back from the dead he had known that there was only one place he needed to be, one mech that he couldn't imagine being without, and to Wheeljack, who had spent his life questioning, de-constructing and reconstructing everything, this knowledge was nothing short of miraculous.

"If it wasn't for you I never would have known what certainty was," he said softly. He knew that Mirage couldn't hear him, he was simply to deep in stasis, but it seemed natural to talk to him.

A few minutes later Sky Lynx landed, and after thanking him, Wheeljack scooped his lover up and carried him out.

Ratchet was waiting for them at the edge of the landing field, the medic's optics were full of concern, but he still managed to smile at Wheeljack. "It's good to have you back," he said warmly.

"It's good to be home too," Wheeljack responded. "Can you help him?" he tried to keep the desperation out of his voice, but there was simply no way of hiding it from one of his oldest friends.

The medic studied Mirage for a moment and nodded. "He's done a number of himself, but I'm sure we'll have him up and running again in a few days," he said confidently. "Let's go."

* * *

The two mechs worked companionably for the rest of the day and most of the night, and Wheeljack soon realised that if it had been anyone other than Mirage on the table between them he would have enjoyed himself. The only interruption to their tireless work was Sideswipe, the red twin made excuses to visit the med-bay as regularly as clock-work, and every time Ratchet chased him out with fond amusement.

"He can't stand being without you, can he?" Wheeljack observed as Sideswipe departed for the fifth time.

"It's difficult for him," Ratchet admitted. "We've been bonded for over a month but he still seems to think that I'll just disappear again. I can't say I blame him, but I'll be relieved when he gets it through his plating that I'm not going anywhere without him."

"No regrets?" Wheeljack asked curiously, he was half-teasing but he still hoped that he would get an answer.

"Not even half a one," the medic replied honestly. "Sideswipe and I may have started out as a fling, something that would keep us sane during a war that we thought we were losing, he may act like a sparkling sometimes, and he's caused me more trouble than any other member of this unit, baring his twin and certain black and white wise-afts, but he's worth it."

Wheeljack smirked at the grudgingly revealed affection. He'd always suspected a softer side to the cantankerous medic, but he'd never expected to see it.

* * *

It was another two days before Ratchet deemed Mirage strong enough to be brought back online, and by that time Wheeljack was almost going out of his processor with worry, but his joy at being reunited with his lover was short lived.

"Am I dead?" Mirage asked as soon enough of his systems had rebooted to allow him to talk.

"No," Wheeljack said softly. "I found you in time, you're going to be fine."

"Are you dead?"

Wheeljack shook his head. "Not anymore. I came back for you."

"You should have waited," Mirage whispered tiredly. "I would have been with you soon enough."

An uneasy chill settled over Wheeljack's circuits, but Mirage slipped back into recharge before he could say anything.

"He'll be alright 'Jack," Ratchet said reassuringly. "He was barely online and probably didn't know what he was saying. Give him a day, let him get stronger and I'm sure you'll get the happy reunion you're hoping for."

Wheeljack couldn't think of anything to say, he pulled up a chair and settled in to watch over his lover. He thought of the way Jazz had clung to Prowl when Prowl had been revived, the way the two black and whites had exchanged gentle touches even in the brief moments when their attention had been elsewhere. He wasn't naïve, he hadn't expected coming back from the dead to be easy, but they had given him hope; the way their love had survived everything that had been thrown at them always had.

He took Mirage's hand and made a silent promise. _"Love will get us through this."_


	12. Chapter 12

**A.N:** Almost done now, I count three more chapters to go so if there's something you really want to see now is the time to say something.

Oh, before I forget, Jazz uses a couple of lines of poetry in the fifth paragraph, don't ask me why, he just wouldn't say anything else. 'Stopping by woods on a snowy evening' belongs to Robert Frost, who I really like but don't own.

We'll pretend that a few months have gone by, and if you want to see what Jazz and Prowl got up to for some of that check out Part 8 of Treasured Times just be aware that I've rated it M for a reason, although there's nothing too terrible in it. Shameless plug done, I'll leave you to read in peace. Enjoy. FB.

* * *

**Chapter 12 **

With almost identical noises of satisfaction the two mechs pulled apart, and lay back. One curled around the other, and they held each other as if they never intended to let go again.

The only sounds they could hear were the calling of the gulls that circled high above them and the cooling of their own systems, neither spoke, there was no need to when only moments before they had been so completely immersed in each other that it had been impossible to tell where one ended and the other began.

Together they watched as the sun rose. It was a magnificent sight, the ever changing, many coloured sky reflected in the ocean until dawn was over and both were clear blue, almost the same colour as the optics that watched intently.

Prowl dropped a gentle kiss onto the top of his lover's helm to get his attention.

"I know," Jazz said softly. "I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep," he didn't look up until he finished speaking but when he did the first thing Prowl saw was his bond-mates contented smile, a smile that he knew mirrored his own.

They shared a kiss before standing up slowly, their hands touched briefly before they turned their backs on the rolling ocean.

Many miles separated them from their destination, but after months away the need to see their loved ones again drove them on. They raced until, as dusk settled, the shinning walls of Metroplex rose up out of the desert.

After months at their beach retreat, and only a few quick chats with Bluestreak to keep them updated, Jazz in particular was looking forward to being back in the fold. Their time away had been essential and had probably saved his life, but living away from a hub, and the babble of thousands of conversations had been a completely new and slightly bizarre experience.

Blaster's cheerful voice greeted them as they transformed and walked into the city hand in hand, "Welcome home mechs, you're just in time," he said cryptically across the comms.

"For what?" Prowl asked, curiosity mingled with suspicion as Blaster continued.

"Ain't my place to say, but if I were you two I'd get down to the med-bay."

"Thanks for the heads-up," Jazz responded. "Let's go."

His bond-mate nodded and full of curiosity the headed down to Ratchet's lair.

A few minutes later Prowl led the way into the med-bay, and almost immediately he was forced to duck a low-flying wrench.

"I said for everyone to stay out unless they were dying," Ratchet snarled without even looking round.

"Blaster told us to come down," Jazz explained quickly.

The sound of his voice was enough to make the medic glance over his shoulder, he gave them a slight smile that was the closest they were likely to get to an apology, and indicated a berth that had been curtained off with a curt nod, before he returned to whatever it was that required his full attention.

The two black and whites exchanged concerned glances and quickened their strides to join their friends.

Behind the curtain Bluestreak was half laying on a berth, but with his head on Sunstreaker's chest rather than the head-rest. He looked as if he could slip into recharge at any moment, but when Jazz and Prowl stepped inside both the twins moved to look at them and Bluestreak suddenly became alert again.

"Prowl, Jazz," he grinned as he pushed himself up to embrace both of them. "Primus, but it's good to see you, and your timing couldn't be better. I've missed you both so much, and I wanted to call you and tell you the news but Sunny said that you needed to come back when you were ready, and here you are."

"What's going on Bluestreak?" Prowl asked once he could get a word in.

"No one told you?" Sunstreaker asked.

"Not a thing," Jazz told him. "The Autobot rumour mill is not what it was."

"Probably because one of it's main components has been busy elsewhere," Ratchet said dryly as he came up behind them. "Bluestreak."

The Datsuns grin broadened. "Dad, father," he said rather formally, and the fact that he only occasionally addressed Jazz that way and had never used that name to Prowl before wasn't missed by anyone. "It's my pleasure to introduce you to Skydart, your first grandson." As he spoke Ratchet handed him a small dark blue and silver grey sparkling.

Realisation had dawned in the two elder mechs faces almost as soon as Bluestreak had started to speak, but they let him have his moment then both leant over to see the small, peaceful features of the newest addition to their family.

"Someone should have told us earlier," Jazz scolded the other affectionately. "He's beautiful."

"Did you expect him to be anything else with Sunstreaker as a father?" Sideswipe chuckled. "Sunny's helping to design a lot of the new sparklings casings now, he's getting pretty good."

Jazz found his lover's optics waiting for him when he looked up, the question in them was simple,_ can you deal with this?_ He nodded briefly and shifted his attention to Ratchet. "How many sparklings are there now?" he asked curiously.

"Fourteen here," the medic answered. "And Cybertron's full of them."

"Talk about a baby-boom," Jazz grinned. "I can't wait to see them all. It's so good to be back."

"It's good to have the two of you here too," Bluestreak agreed.

"Three," Prowl corrected with the barest hint of a smug smile.

"Four," Ratchet said bluntly.

"Any advance on four?" Sideswipe muttered, as the rest of them exchanged surprised but happy glances. All optics converged on Jazz, but he was looking at Prowl.

"He's right," Prowl said as his optics met Jazz's visor. "My processor's been on other things and I hadn't noticed, but the spark has split. We're having twins."

Jazz sat down heavily on the side of the berth letting his surprise and joy flow freely across the bond, it wasn't often that he found himself completely lost for words, but this was one occasion when nothing he could say would sum up how he felt. Prowl was at his side in an instant and wrapping him in a gentle embrace while he used their connection to help Jazz control the emotions that threatened to overwhelm him.

The others moved around them uttering congratulations and clasping shoulders warmly.

It wasn't long before Sideswipe started chuckling and looked at Prowl. "It kind of feels like justice to me," he smiled. "After centuries of cursing mine and Sunny's existences you manage to create your own pair for us to teach all our tricks to."

"They will have me as a father," Prowl reminded the red twin.

"You mean you're not going to let the poor, little sparks have any fun," Sideswipe whined.

"They will also have Jazz as a dad," Prowl pointed out. "I wouldn't be surprised if they invent a whole new meaning for the word mischief."

* * *

They stayed in the med-bay a while longer, but the long journey and emotional reunion was starting to take it's toll, so Jazz and Prowl left when Sunstreaker ducked out to collect Starlight.

Their route took them past the labs where Jazz's keen audios picked up another familiar voice. He stopped, shot a quick smile at Prowl, waited for him to nod and let himself into one of the rooms.

"Wheeljack!" he called. A loud thud and a muffled curse gave him Wheeljack's location.

"There's only one mech who would walk in here without knocking," the inventor grumbled as he appeared from behind a small mountain of storage boxes. "How's life Jazz?"

"Couldn't be better," Jazz grinned as he moved to embrace the engineer. "It's been too long 'Jack."

"I'm sure you've managed to keep yourself entertained," Wheeljack said fondly.

"Well, yeah," Jazz said with a sly grin.

"So, how's Prowl?" Wheeljack asked, but he didn't give Jazz time to answer before he slapped himself on the side of his helm. "And Bluestreak? Sorry Jazz, I should have asked as soon as you walked in."

"He and Skydart are both perfect," Jazz beamed. "And in answer to your first question Prowl's good too, he's carrying twins," his grin grew wider as something occurred to him, "I've just become a grandpa for the second time and in a few weeks I'll be a father for the first."

"You've been a dad for longer than I've known you," Wheeljack corrected. "And if the new ones turn out half as well as Blue you'll have nothing to worry about. I've spent a fair bit of time with him lately and I don't think a day's gone by when he hasn't at least mentioned you and Prowl."

"We shouldn't have stayed away so long," Jazz said regretfully.

"You needed to," Wheeljack reminded him. "And no one begrudges you wanting the love of your life to yourself for a while."

"I guess you'd know," Jazz said softly. His words were calculated, he hadn't missed that Wheeljack hadn't mentioned Mirage, which didn't seem right, so when the engineer failed to give more than a mumble of agreement he took the direct approach. "What is it 'Jack? What's happened?"

"Mirage is... he's not well," Wheeljack said hesitantly. "He'd given up by the time I found him, the Hate Plague was the last straw, after everything else it was just too much."

"Where is he?" Jazz asked urgently.

"In our quarters," the engineer replied, suddenly sounding exhausted. "But...Jazz!" he called out, but as ever the former saboteur was just a little too fast for him, and Jazz had shot across the hall, opened the door and slipped inside before Wheeljack could catch him.

The room was neat, well appointed and a little too small in Jazz's opinion, but it was the awful sense of loneliness that seemed to haunt it that almost stopped Jazz cold. He nudged at the bond and received a warm, reassuring echo from Prowl before he crossed the room to where Mirage was sat on the edge of the berth.

"Oh 'Raj," he said softly as he knelt before the usually proud blue and white mech. "How could this happen to you?" He wasn't really expecting an answer, but the lack of one still worried him. "He should be in the med-bay," he scolded Wheeljack.

"He was, for a while," Wheeljack murmured. "But once he was physically healed he developed... glitches."

"How can you be real?" Mirage said in a hushed, static filled tone.

Jazz frowned, puzzled and more worried by Mirage's question than he had been by his silence. "What does he mean?"

"He can't believe that I'm alive so he thinks he's seeing ghosts," Wheeljack answered.

The situation sounded horribly familiar and it was all Jazz could do to keep his intakes working, but Prowl's confident, loving assurances gave him the strength to carry on, and the constant flashes of exchanged thoughts told him what to do next. "We've been given quarters in one of the towers," he stated. "There's plenty of room for the two of you."

Wheeljack shook his head. "Having Ratchet and Prowl around all the time would be to much for him," he objected.

"He can't get much worse than this," Jazz pointed out. "There has to be something we can do."

"Do you think that I just gave up on him?" Wheeljack snarled, and although Mirage's expression didn't change Jazz felt him tense up. "I love him, I always will, but I've tried to help him and nothing's worked."

"_I can't do this,"_ Jazz thought as he attempted to face-off the bristling engineer.

"_We can,"_ came Prowl's immediate response. _"There's nothing we can't do between us."_

The effect was immediate, Jazz felt his confidence rise with Prowl's encouragement and knew what he must do. "I've found that a family can help in even the worst of situations," he said calmly.

"'Raj and I aren't part of your family."

"The only two mechs who are actually related are Sunny and Sides. The rest of us chose to be together, and now I'm offering that choice to you."

For a moment Wheeljack's posture remained defiant before he gave a soft, fond chuckle and relented, "Do you have any idea how hard it is to say no to you?"

Jazz flashed him a winning smile. "Pretty much," he said flippantly. "Get your gear."

* * *

A few minutes later, and with a box of something that Wheeljack had promised him wouldn't explode under his arm, Jazz shepherded Mirage out of the room. The former spy looked horribly nervous, but mercifully there weren't many other 'bots around, and they reached their destination without incident.

Wheeljack couldn't help feeling relieved when Jazz opened the door and the soft sound of friendly conversation welcomed them. It hadn't just been Mirage's condition that had him worried; Jazz had been uncharacteristically quiet for the whole walk, only breaking his silence to offer gentle reassurances to the blue and white.

Prowl greeted them at the door, or rather he greeted Jazz. As soon as Jazz had put his box down Prowl wrapped his bond-mate in a tender embrace and touched his chevron to the point just above Jazz's visor without a word. Before Wheeljack could say anything to the black and whites Sunstreaker stepped in front of him.

"You're both welcome here," the golden twin said warmly. "But not in that state," he added with a disdainful glance at Mirage's rather dull appearance. "With me."

Wheeljack could only stand and watch as Sunstreaker led the silent Mirage through another door to what he assumed was the wash-rack.

"He's being nice," Prowl said as he looked over Jazz's shoulder at the engineer. "You'll get used to it... maybe."

At any other time Jazz would have made an off-hand comment, but he stayed quiet and Wheeljack found his silence more unnerving that Sunstreaker's pleasantness.

The two black and whites seemed to share a quick, private conversation before Prowl nodded and Jazz left the room. Prowl watched his lover go with a fond, if concerned, expression then looked at Wheeljack. "Make yourself at home."

"Is Jazz alright?" Wheeljack asked as they crossed the room.

"He's a thousand times better than he was," Prowl answered honestly. "But it's been a tough day and he needs a minute."

"He was fine until he got here."

"Was he?" Prowl asked a little sharply, before he shook his head to answer his own question. "Jazz got a shock when he saw Mirage, I had to help him through most of your conversation and you saw how he was when he came in."

"I don't understand," Wheeljack admitted.

"Most 'bots last a cycle or two if their bond-mate dies, Jazz survived over forty, but he only made it through the last few because he knew I was coming back. If that hadn't happened when it did I doubt he would made it though the week," Prowl said flatly. "He pushed himself to his absolute limits and that's left him fragile, he's not as resilient as he was, fortunately I can use the bond to guide him."

"Why didn't he just say something?" Wheeljack asked and to his surprise Prowl actually smirked.

"Because he's Jazz," the black and white answered. "Asking for help doesn't come naturally to him, neither does turning away from a friend in need, but our bond is stronger now than it ever has been and I can use that hold him together."

Wheeljack nodded but he still looked puzzled.

Prowl settled down in a comfortable chair and began to explain in a patient tone, "Bonds take time to form. Awareness comes almost instantly and slowly develops into the ability to sense emotions and then hear thoughts. After that it slowly becomes harder to tell where one ends and the other begins, every thought becomes shared, every emotion conveyed. It can be blocked of course, otherwise I doubt Jazz and I would ever get anything done, but you never got the chance to learn any of this for yourself, did you?"

"We never told anyone," Wheeljack murmured. "How did you know we'd bonded?"

"We worked it out when you told Jazz that Mirage didn't believe you were real. Jazz had a similar problem just after I returned, he'd dreamed of me so many times that he couldn't believe I was really with him. Fortunately I managed to convince him, but it was a close call."

"And that's why seeing Mirage scared him," Wheeljack realised.

Prowl nodded sadly. "But you saved Jazz's life a long time ago, and he's never forgotten that. We'll both help you all we can."

"That goes for me too," Bluestreak added, as he walked into the room. "I'm sorry Wheeljack, Sunny and I should have realised that something was wrong sooner."

"You both had other things on your processors," Wheeljack said dismissively as he nodded to Skydart, who was recharging comfortably in his creator's arms. "Shouldn't you still be in the med-bay?"

"I managed to convince Ratchet that I might as well be up here with him," Bluestreak explained with a smile that Wheeljack recognised as the same one Jazz used to get his own way so often. "He and Sides will be here in a minute. Where's Jazz?"

"In our rooms, and Sunstreaker put Starlight down for a nap," Prowl answered. "Sit down Blue, he's not the only one who's had a long day."

Bluestreak nodded and wearily took a seat between Prowl and Wheeljack, so that they could both get a good look at the sparkling in his arms. Ratchet and Sideswipe joined them a moment later.

Prowl nodded a greeting to them and looked around the gathered mechs. "While we have a moment I want to talk to all of you about Jazz," he said softly. "He is a lot stronger than before we went away but he is still healing, just because I'm back doesn't mean he didn't suffer."

"What can we do?" Bluestreak asked immediately.

"Just go easy on him, and if he starts hesitating or seems too quiet then I'll already know if something is wrong and I'll be with him as soon as I can."

"Doesn't sound like much," Bluestreak muttered, he seemed a little put out that he couldn't do more.

Prowl put an arm around his shoulders. "You already did your part Blue. You kept him going when he was ready to give up, now it's my turn."

"And he's loving every minute of it," Jazz said cheerfully as he stepped into the room.

Prowl stood up and hugged his lover. "It's not often that you'll let me take care of you," he said before giving him a tender kiss.

Sunstreaker and Mirage returned from the wash-rack, Mirage looked horribly uncomfortable at being in the company of so many mechs, but he couldn't immediately retreat to his quarters because Sunstreaker had other things to do before he could show him where they were, and the golden twin disappeared into another side room almost right away.

He came back as Jazz and Prowl pulled apart, and from Sunstreaker's arms Starlight gave a little cry of joy as her optics flickered between Prowl, Jazz and her new brother, she scrambled onto Bluestreak's lap and grinned at Skydart before turning and running at the pair off black and whites.

"We've talked to her about the two of you a lot," Bluestreak informed him, as Jazz hoisted the little sparkling into his arms. "We think that she should know where she comes from."

Jazz gave Starlight a gentle squeeze. "I missed you," he whispered, "but I'm back now baby and I'm here to stay."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Hesitantly and feeling more than a little afraid, Mirage peeked through the small gap between the door and it's frame, and from his place of safety he looked out into the main room, and another world.

It should have been an idyllic view. His friends were so happy, so relaxed. Bluestreak was watching over three small sparklings as they played. Close by Sunstreaker was feeding another, even smaller juvenile and everything was accented by warm, golden sunlight.

If the scene had ended there Mirage would have thought it beautiful, but just beyond Sunstreaker Sideswipe lay stretched out on the couch with his head in Ratchet's lap. Sideswipe was laughing and watching the medic with what Mirage could only describe as adoration shinning in his optics. By the window Jazz and Prowl were playing chess and chatting with Wheeljack, who seemed to be waiting to play the winner.

_A perfect day,_ Mirage thought, _or at least it would be if it was real. _He knew that Wheeljack was dead, he had felt him die through their new bond, and later, once he had gotten far enough away from the horrors of battle to be able to look back, he had learned that Prowl and Ratchet had also died in the battle for Autobot City. He wasn't convinced that Jazz was alive either; he couldn't comprehend how a mech who had been bonded for so long could survive his lover's death.

Mirage himself had been bonded for less than a week, and he was still fairly sure that it's loss would kill him in the end. He had thought that his time was done once already, but instead of joining the Matrix he had found himself in the med-bay and been nursed back to health by mechs he could not believe were alive.

The problems continued with the fact that although at least three of the mechs on the other side of the door were dead the others still interacted with them, which led Mirage to believe that they had all taken leave of their sanity too. They just didn't know it yet.

Without making a sound the former spy let the door close. He couldn't bring himself to watch anymore. There was nothing else for him to do, so he dropped onto his berth and slid into an uneasy recharge.

* * *

He came back online later, he didn't know how much later, time had become inconsequential as many things had, but Jazz was shaking him gently and gave no sign of letting up.

"You've been in here long enough 'Raj," the black and white said cheerfully.

"Who's out there?" Mirage asked.

"Just me, Sunny and the sparks," Jazz answered, and after a little more encouragement Mirage stepped out into the light.

It was a glorious day, and Sunstreaker seemed to be making the most of it by setting up his easel on the balcony and painting a landscape.

"Pictures of Earth have become quite popular on Cybertron," Jazz informed Mirage as they joined the artist. "And it's past time you met Starlight," he added quickly as the little femme tottered up and he hoisted her into his arms.

"Pleased to meet you Starlight," Mirage greeted her formally. "I'm Mirage."

"Hi 'Raj," Starlight said brightly.

He had to smile at her use of his nickname. Once he would have despised something so common but those days were long gone, such things were connections between himself and those around him, tiny reminders that he belonged somewhere.

"...And the little bundle of parts over there is Skydart," Jazz was saying when Mirage heard him again.

He peered into the crib and a pair of tiny blue optics met his instantly. "Both of them are Bluestreak's and Sunstreaker's?" he asked.

"Yep," the golden artist answered. "We figured that we'd wasted enough time."

"Plans for anymore?"

"Maybe when they're a bit older. Two sparklings that haven't had their first upgrade yet are enough," Sunstreaker smiled, and returned to his painting.

"Another year or so and this city will be swarming with sparklings," Jazz put in. "I heard this morning that Inferno's carrying too." He pressed a small cube of energon into Mirage's hands and settled his into a comfortable chair. "Life's never been better."

"If only it was real," Mirage said sadly.

"It is real 'Raj," Jazz assured him. "And if you can't accept that then ask yourself this; would you rather be crazy with them or insane without?"

Mirage sat quietly muling over his friend's words, but he hadn't found anything to say when the comms activated. "Bluestreak to Jazz," the young mech called.

"Hey Blue," Jazz answered immediately, "What's happenin'?"

"'Jack and I were wondering if you could come down to the lab, we've got something to show you."

"I'll be right down," Jazz agreed. "Fancy a walk 'Raj?"

"Another day perhaps," Mirage excused himself.

Jazz gave him an understanding nod and turned to Sunstreaker, "Any idea what your bond-mate wants with me?"

Sunstreaker beamed but shook his head. "No clue, he's very smug about something though," he replied.

Looking a little bemused Jazz turned to leave and Mirage followed him as far as the door to his own room.

* * *

At the door to Wheeljack's lab Jazz hesitated, just for an instant he considered knocking, but he quickly dismissed the idea and let himself in. "What's up my mechs?" he greeted Bluestreak and Wheeljack.

"We wanted to show you these," Bluestreak answered, holding out two small devices.

Jazz tilted his head in confusion, he'd never seen anything like them before. "What are they?" he asked, feeling a little ignorant in the company of the two scientists.

"Optical components," Wheeljack answered, and Jazz's attention snapped up to his friend's faceplates.

"But you couldn't..." Jazz murmured. "You tried, when we were stationed at Nova Cronum you tried everything..."

"That was then," Wheeljack interrupted. "On Cybertron the war took priority, we didn't have the time or the parts. When Bluestreak started working with me I asked him what he wanted to achieve..."

"And I told him that I wanted to give you your optics back," Bluestreak finished.

"Primus," Jazz whispered. "I never thought..."

"We know," Wheeljack assured him. Jazz just wasn't the type of mech to dwell on what might have been or regret things that he knew he couldn't change. "Shut your systems down and we'll get this done."

* * *

_Jazz knew that he should have sunk down into darkness, into the peaceful oblivion of stasis, but his conversation with Bluestreak and Wheeljack had awakened old memories, ones of a time he had never allowed himself to really stop and think about._

_There had been nothing unusual about that cycle, no warning or sign that everything he knew, everything he loved, was about to change. He'd approached Uraya in his usual manner, transforming just before he reached the city so that he could walk back into the noise and light after several mega-miles of silence, it was always a relief._

_His indulgence had saved his life, and later he would be grateful, but at the time he had felt nothing but fear. A ball of unnaturally bright light blazed outwards from the centre of the city. The fire was all-consuming, a horrifying thing to witness and a worse way to die. The inferno was to be the last thing Jazz ever saw clearly._

_The shock-wave had hit him a moment later._

_In the vorns that had followed his vision had never recovered, he had adapted, improved his scanner array with help from Wheeljack, and eventually gained the visor that would give him an easy to interpret image of his surroundings, but he had never completely buried the feeling that he was missing something. He had never even mentioned it to Prowl, but he knew what it was; he missed the myriad of colours that truly brought the world alive.

* * *

_

"_Jazz,"_ Prowl's voice was clear across the bond, just as it had been when he had heard it for the first time while Uraya burned, but Jazz knew the call came from the present._ "Jazz, can you hear me?"_

He could hear, he was online, or at least most of his basic systems were, but he didn't want to go any further, the fear of disappointment stopped him.

Gentle fingers touched his face, soothing his worries and letting him know that he was safe, while encouragement flowed through the bond. "Come on Jazz," Prowl whispered, "It's alright."

Hardly daring to hope, and with a quick prayer to Primus, Jazz brought his optics online for the first time in an age. He looked up into another pair of azure-blue optics.

It was without doubt the most amazing sight he had ever seen, after so long using his visor he was surprised by how different things looked. The visor had worked by taking the information his scanners generated and converting it into images, but with his own optics he could see a truer picture, crystal clear and wonderful, there was nothing that could compare with being able to look directly into his bond-mate's face, and then there were the colours.

"They're beautiful," Prowl murmured appreciatively

"So are you," Jazz whispered just before his emotions blazed out of his control. He felt himself being pulled into a pair of loving arms as his vents stalled, but his systems were so overwhelmed that it was a struggle to return the embrace.

Calmness returned slowly, seeping through the bond and bringing him back to himself at a snails pace, but at least he was getting somewhere.

"Easy now my Jazz," Prowl encouraged him. "Take your time and hold on to me."

Jazz did as he was instructed, keeping a tight grip on Prowl's waist he looked up again and tried to keep his emotions stable as he took in every feature and facet of his lover's face. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Prowl smiled. "Don't be. If I hadn't seen your face in half a lifetime I'd fritz too."

"It looked like more than that," Wheeljack put in, drawing Jazz's attention away from his lover's visage and onto the rest of the room.

"We can handle it between us," Prowl assured him, but the concerned hue didn't quite fade from the engineer's optics.

As Prowl spoke Jazz pulled out of their embrace and slipped off the berth. His friends watched him closely as he took a few hesitant steps he needed to reach Wheeljack and Bluestreak. He stopped just in front of them, looked them over and hugged them.

"Thank you," he said sincerely. "I owe you..."

"You owe us nothing Jazz," Bluestreak interrupted.

"You've given both of us so much," Wheeljack added. "Call this a gift for a gift."

Jazz's body trembled and he held on to his friends more tightly, but it was Prowl's hand on his back that seemed to calm him again, although the others could only guess what passed through their bond.

When Jazz was still Bluestreak spoke again, his voice soft and sure, "We love you Jazz. We all do, me, Sunny, the sparks, all we want is for you to be happy."

"I am," Jazz assured him, he gazed at Bluestreak for a moment longer, drinking in the sight of the young mech who he had helped to raise but never stood optic to optic with, before he turned sharply and focused on Prowl.

He stepped away from his friends and his fingers gently brushed down Prowl's face and neck and came to rest on the panel that protected his lover's core and two tiny sparks, and a lightning bolt of emotion shot through him, There was something else that he had missed; the simple delights of watching the young mech he loved grow up. "I'm going to get to watch this time," he whispered.

"I'm going to make sure that you don't miss a thing," Prowl murmured and he just managed to get his arms round Jazz before his bond-mate shuddered violently.

"Jazz!" Bluestreak exclaimed, as he moved into help support his friend. "What's wrong?" he asked Prowl.

"Do you remember me telling you that Jazz is still fragile?" Prowl questioned, and the younger mech nodded. "Do you believe me now?"

Gently Prowl manoeuvred his partner so that he could perch on the edge of the work-bench, and bent his head so that the fronts of their helms touched.

"I... I didn't realise," Bluestreak stammered. "We should have waited."

Prowl shook his head, but it was Jazz who spoke. "It'll just take a little getting used to is all," he said shakily. "I never thought I'd get all this, I thought I'd lost everything."

Prowl touched his lover's cheek to get his attention and smiled. "And now we have everything we ever wanted," he said softly before planting a tender kiss between Jazz's optics.

* * *

Sunlight streaming through their windows told Jazz that it was late as soon as he was online, he checked his chronometer and was shocked by just how late it was. Prowl had always been an early riser, which had caused one or two cross words in the last few months as Prowl had insisted upon waking him up every morning and it had taken time to reach a compromise, but Prowl was still stretched out and recharging deeply beside him.

"Looks like I really wore you out last night," Jazz murmured as he fondly thought back to the night before. The whole night had been one of the most incredible of Jazz's long life, he had found himself captivated by the sight of his lover, Prowl had responded eagerly, passionately, and again, and again.

"Hey Baby," Jazz whispered. He nudged his lover gently but when Prowl showed no sign of coming back online Jazz shook him a little harder. "C'mon lover," he called, but there was no response. "Jazz to Ratchet," he sent across the comm.

"What is it?" Ratchet asked in a curt tone, he was using the voice that almost all Autobots had learned to be wary of, and though Jazz had never thought of himself as a coward he was also well aware that a little caution was necessary once in a while.

"Prowl needs you," he answered, he didn't try to explain anything as that would only waste time and annoy Ratchet, but he also knew that whatever had caused the sharp note in the medic's voice, he would never take it out on a carrier.

Ratchet burst into the room a moment later, even close up Jazz still couldn't tell if the medic's temper was real, or just part of the show.

A quick scan told Ratchet everything he needed to know. "Get him some energon," he barked as he rounded on Jazz, and the black and white ran to the dispenser as fast as hid legs would carry him.

"What took you so long?" Ratchet snapped when he returned.

_No act then,_ Jazz surmised. "What's going on Ratch?"

He knew he shouldn't have asked when he saw the medic's optics narrow to ice-blue slits. "You should be looking after him Jazz," Ratchet snapped, "he isn't just carrying; he's supporting twins, and that's a lot of work, but do you let him rest? Do you help him take it easy? No, yesterday you had him running through the city to make sure that you were alright, and then you you kept him online half the night."

Jazz felt as if all of his transformation seams where tightening as he tried to shrink into the floor. "How could you know that?" he found himself asking, and he mentally cursed himself as Ratchet's voice sank down to a whole new level of furious.

"Our walls maybe soundproofed Jazz, but that doesn't work if you leave the windows open!"

"_And Sideswipe's in Mexico until the end of the week,"_ Prowl supplied across their bond as his optics finally booted up.

Jazz struggled valiantly against the laugh that he knew would cost him dearly if he let it out. _"Are you trying to get me in trouble?"_ he asked his lover.

"_You seem to have managed to do that all by yourself,"_ Prowl responded a little too innocently. "Thank you for coming to see me Ratchet," he said aloud, "and for your time."

"I'm not done yet," Ratchet snapped. "Prowl, I know that what I'm about to say goes against everything in your programming, but you have to learn how to slow down while you're carrying, and as it seems that I cannot trust Jazz any further than I could throw him, I'm putting you under medical supervision, any duties you may have are to be handed over immediately and you will not leave our rooms without my say-so, got it?"

"Yes Ratchet," Prowl said dutifully.

"Good," the medic snapped and with that he stormed out of the room.

For a moment Jazz stood in the centre of the room and looked completely dumbfounded, then he shook himself slightly and asked, "did we just get told off for interfacing too much?"

"You did," Prowl corrected him, "I got confined to quarters for it."

The dryness of Prowl's tone and the simple ridiculousness of the situation was enough to bring back the fit of giggles that had nearly gotten him disassembled a minute or so earlier, but this time it was safe and Jazz found himself almost bent over double with laughter.

* * *

A few hours later, and in a moment of idleness, Jazz found himself sat in the window seat gazing out towards to distant horizon. No one bothered him for some time, and for once he found that he wasn't bored within a few minutes, his newly repaired optics drank in the scene hungrily, and while he knew that the novelty would eventually wear off, for the time being he was content to just watch everything.

Eventually Wheeljack came and sat down opposite him. "Sunstreaker tells me that you managed to get Mirage to come out of his room yesterday," he said without preamble.

"I should have said something, but things kinda got away from me," Jazz said apologetically. "It didn't take much. He's confused and I don't blame him, he needs reassurance, care and the occasional shove in the right direction," he finished with a slight smile.

"And you'll be there to make sure he gets it," Wheeljack predicted.

"I may not be his C.O. any more, but I am still his friend," Jazz agreed, "and the others will help too."

Wheeljack nodded wearily, and to keep his hands busy he picked up a pawn from the chessboard that was already set up on the table between them and placed it on another square.

Jazz smiled at the silent challenge and moved his own piece.

"What do I do?" Wheeljack asked after a few minutes and turns.

"Live in the world and let him see you," Jazz answered. "Sooner or later he'll see something and realise that you and the others are here."

"I wish I could touch him and not have him flinch away," Wheeljack confided. "I love him Jazz, he made me happy, gave me peace, but what have I given him? Pain and fear, he's suffering and that's not the life I wished for him."

"I know that Prowl never wanted it for me either," Jazz said sadly. "But neither of you could control what happened, and Mirage and I know that."

"Does that knowledge help you?" Wheeljack asked.

Jazz took a while to consider his answer, and the game was advancing well by the time he spoke again. "Unlike you Prowl and I had choices, we chose to do our duty and when it led to his death I was angry for a long time, but I would make those same choices again because they saved others."

"That didn't answer my question," his friend pointed out.

"Maybe I don't have the answer," Jazz admitted. "But I know that unlike me Mirage never looked for someone to blame. He accepted his fate, but still managed to find something to sustain him for long enough for you to save him, and you did. That has to count for something."

Wheeljack studied the game and made his moves as they came for a few minutes. "So what's next?" he asked eventually.

"Build his confidence, and get him to leave his room voluntarily," Jazz answered, "and for that we need a little help from Starlight."

The engineer's optic ridges furrowed.

"She has ways of getting everywhere, and there's not a mech or femme here or on Cybertron that can resist her," Jazz said with a note of pride in his voice. "Check," he added smugly.

"You think that'll work?" Wheeljack asked as he found a safe square for his king.

"I do," Jazz nodded. He moved his rook with a flourish and grinned, "checkmate."

Wheeljack stared at the board unable to work out how he hadn't seen his defeat coming. "How?" he asked.

"Luck," Jazz suggested.

"You live your life the same way you play chess," Wheeljack observed. "Recklessly and without hesitation, but you must have more than luck on your side to do that."

"I'm lucky enough to be bonded to one of the best strategists Cybertron has ever seen," he grinned as he stood up and started to walk back to his own rooms.

Realising what Jazz had done Wheeljack cursed his friend good-naturedly, but at the same time he was reassured; in all the time he had known the pair of black and whites' he had witnessed hundreds of examples of them working together perfectly to achieve results that had been otherwise thought impossible, and while he wasn't overly confident about his chess skills, he was pleased to see that although they had all moved on some things hadn't changed.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 **

Jazz slid onto his berth with a satisfied smile and curled himself up in Prowl's arms. His lover had been in recharge for an hour or so already, and Jazz didn't want to disturb him.

It had been a good day in Jazz's opinion, with their sparklings separation imminent he and Prowl had decided to make the most of their last days of peace. After a leisurely morning energon Prowl had managed a short walk around one of Metroplex's gardens, with Ratchet's permission, before settling down on a comfortable chair to watch Jazz play with Starlight.

The little femme had kept Jazz entertained until Wheeljack had emerged from his quarters and left his door slightly ajar. Their plan had worked perfectly, Starlight hadn't needed any encouragement to go and explore the one place she wasn't usually allowed to go, and a few seconds later her giggles had let the rather anxious mechs outside know that everything was alright.

Jazz had joined Bluestreak one side of the room, and Wheeljack had sat down with Prowl on the other, so that Mirage wouldn't have to deal with them if he didn't want to. It was a good ten minutes before Mirage joined them with Starlight in his arms. "Did you lose someone?" Mirage asked Bluestreak, he looked understandably nervous, but his tone was cheerful enough.

"I was starting to wonder where she had gone," Bluestreak said with passable innocence, "but I could hear her, and she sounded happy, so I thought I'd have a little one-on-one time with Skydart."

"She was admiring my pictures when I found her. She has quite an optic for art by the way, and was happy to tell me which ones Sunstreaker had painted for me. We had a game of hide and seek and then I thought I'd better bring her back."

"'Raj cheats," the little femme informed them solemnly, and a brief but genuine smile flickered onto Mirage's lip components.

"Yeah, we know," Jazz said fondly, "but if you could be invisible you'd cheat too."

"Would not," Starlight protested seriously, and every mech in the room had to hide their smiles.

Mirage handed the femme over to her creator and flashed another smile. "You should be proud of her," he said warmly, "she really is quite charming." He looked down at Starlight and gave her a graceful bow. "My lady, thank you for your company," he said with a formality that most of them hadn't seen him use in vorns, before he returned to his quarters.

Wheeljack had practically bounced across the room. "Do you believe how well that went! He played with her, if he was any other mech he'd have skipped he was so happy, I saw him smile, I think I even heard him laugh. Oh, you are a miracle Starlight!" he praised the femme.

"Lady," Starlight corrected him in such a haughty tone, such a perfect imitation of Mirage's that Jazz almost swallowed his own vocaliser in an attempt to stifle his laughter.

"I think Star's earned some energon goodies," Bluestreak announced.

"Who?" the little femme asked.

"My lady Starlight," Bluestreak corrected himself with a rueful smile. "That's going to stick isn't it?" he asked Jazz.

"Probably," the older mech agreed. "But it could be a lot worse. At least she'll learn her manners from Mirage, you couldn't ask for a better teacher really."

"He'll do better than Sunstreaker anyway," Wheeljack added, although there was no malice in his voice.

"Sunny always remembers to say please to me," Bluestreak shot back with a good-natured and slightly cheeky grin.

The rest of the cycle had passed by peacefully. _A perfect day,_ Jazz mused as he relaxed in his lovers arms.

The sound that brought Jazz online would have been inaudible to most other mechs, it was the softest of whimpers, but it was more than enough, and as soon as his optics were operational they snapped straight to Prowl's face.

"Hey," he called softly. "What is it baby?"

Prowl didn't answer, he stirred slightly, just enough for an odd discomfort to leach into the bond, but it faded quickly as Prowl's consciousness sank back down into recharge.

Jazz pulled his lover closer, and while doing his best to keep his emotions calm and soothing he activated his comm. "Ratch, we need you in here."

"On my way," Ratchet replied curtly, and a moment later he marched through the door. "This better be important Jazz."

The black and white quickly told the medic what had happened, Ratchet pushed Prowl onto his back and ran a scan over his chest cavity, but before he could say anything Sideswipe appeared at the door.

"Is something happening, or can we go back to bed?" the red twin asked impatiently.

"Something's happening alright," Ratchet replied. "Prowl's been so exhausted that he's recharged through the early stages of separation. Sides, get down to the med-bay, the cases for the protoforms and my tools are on the left end of my work-bench, I need them here, double time."

Sideswipe bolted.

"Shouldn't we move Prowl down there?" Jazz asked.

"No time," Ratchet snapped. "Moving him could speed up the separation, and the last thing I want to do is deliver the sparklings in a corridor somewhere. Keep him on his back and still, and we should be okay."

"What's happening?" Sunstreaker asked as he took his brother's place in the doorway.

"In a few minutes you and Sides won't be the only set of Cybertronian twins on Earth," Jazz answered, and a wave of anxiety and excitement ripped through him.

"Wow," Bluestreak grinned as he pushed past his bond-mate. "What can we do?"

"Sunny can set up the cots for me and you can get Prowl some energon, he'll need it when we're done."

"Shouldn't we give it to him now?" Jazz asked. "He feels very weak."

"This is probably the first time in his life that Prowl can't multi-task," Ratchet lectured. "His whole body is focused on the separation, you try to give him energon now and he'll redecorate the room with it."

"It was just an idea," Jazz said as he raised his hands in surrender. "What can I do?"

"It's down to you to keep him calm, I know you can do it Jazz," the medic assured him. "Speaking of which," he added turning back to the door just before Sideswipe burst in. "Sides I need you to calm down. You're so nervous that my hands are shaking."

"It's not me," Sideswipe protested.

Ratchet rounded on Sunstreaker, but the golden twin just pointed back to the door as Bluestreak rushed back in with Prowl's energon. "Well, I'll be damned," Ratchet murmured. "It bounced all the way through."

"Ratch," Sideswipe said softly.

The medic smiled fondly, "Can I study it later?" he predicted. "Looks like I'll have to. Okay, Blue help Jazz with Prowl, Sides you're helping me..."

"Anything I can do?" Wheeljack asked as he joined them. "I heard the fuss, I take it now is the time."

"Yes," Ratchet nodded, "and thanks 'Jack. A pair of steady hands would be very useful right now. Sides, you've just been relegated to helping Sunstreaker monitoring the sparks while I'm busy. Okay Jazz, here we go."

With help from Bluestreak Jazz gently manoeuvred Prowl so that he was leaning back against his chest. "I love you baby," he whispered. "It'll all be over soon."

Prowl's answering murmur was incoherent, but Jazz didn't need to hear the words.

"Open up for me Prowl," Ratchet instructed softly.

The panel that protected Prowl's spark chamber retracted and the black and white moaned weakly.

"Easy lover," Jazz whispered. "I've got you."

Bluestreak nuzzled in beside Jazz with, put one arm around Prowl to help support him and his other around Jazz's waist. "And I've got you dad," he assured the older mech.

Jazz tipped his head forward to lean the front of his helm lightly on Bluestreak's chevron. "Thank you," he whispered.

"And we're set," Ratchet announced. "'Jack, on three. One, two..."

Prowl gave a feeble cry, both Jazz and Bluestreak tightened their holds and a small sphere of soft, blue light slid into the spark-chamber that Ratchet held ready.

Jazz watched silently as the chamber was passed over to Wheeljack and taken away to where two tiny frames waited to be given the gift of life.

"Holy Primus," Bluestreak murmured. "You did it father. One down, one to go," he added encouragingly.

"Like he said," Ratchet agreed. "You ready for round two?"

Prowl didn't say a word but the slight arch of his optic ridge spoke volumes.

"You're doing great love," Jazz soothed him. "Just a little longer."

"Less than you think," Ratchet said with a slight smile. "The second one's coming away easier than the first." He paused for a moment, Prowl stiffened and then the spark was in it's chamber. "We're done," the medic announced. "Get that energon in him and I'll be back in a minute."

With Prowl leaning heavily against him Jazz took the energon from Bluestreak and helped his lover drink it. Within seconds Prowl's optics brightened. "We did it," he beamed.

"You did it," Jazz corrected him, as he shifted around leaving Bluestreak to hold Prowl up. "And you were amazing. I've never loved you more, now let's get you comfortable."

"I am," Prowl smiled. "I want to see them first, and if I lie down I'll go back into recharge."

"Here we go," Ratchet announced as he came back to them with a black and white sparkling in each arm. "Two happy, healthy little mechs."

"They're beautiful," Jazz exclaimed, he watched entranced as the medic handed them over to Prowl, who held them with Bluestreak's help.

"They take after their daddy," Prowl said with a slightly teasing smile. His adoring gaze temporally switched to his lover's face before he spoke again, "They may even rival you."

"Well there's two of them," Bluestreak put in, "they're bound to be twice as cute."

"I'm not cute," Jazz protested.

"I'll be the judge of that," Prowl chuckled.

"You're biased."

"And _you_ are mine," Prowl said firmly, "to describe as I wish."

With a sly smile Jazz nodded, and kissed his lover softly. "You need to rest," he whispered.

Prowl looked down at the two tiny forms again. "I know," he agreed. "But how can I let go of something that I've waited a lifetime to see."

"Because you must," Bluestreak said firmly. "I've been a carrier, I know how hard it is, and they'll still be here in the morning."

Prowl nodded reluctantly and handed the sparklings over to Jazz so that he could lay himself down.

"Rest well, father," Bluestreak said quietly.

Jazz gazed down at the two tiny mechs in his arms. He was content, there was no other word for it, a little nervous maybe, but ridiculously happy.

"_I was wrong before,"_ Prowl's thoughts seemed to echo with the warmth of his emotions. _"This is what I've waited a life-time to see."_

For a moment Jazz watched as Prowl's optics dimmed again and settled into a much needed recharge. Less than half an hour had passed since Prowl's keening had brought him back online, but his whole world had changed in that time. He placed the two tiny mechs in their cribs and stood over them; he wasn't sure what else to do and nothing he could say would cover how he felt.

He needed to distract himself before his emotions blazed out of control, he knew that without Prowl to stabilise him he could end up in serious trouble. A tiny distortion in the light that came through the door was exactly what he needed, he ran a quick scan to be sure and smiled. _That's the closest you've got to sneaking up on me for a long time,_ he thought. "It's alright Mirage, you can come in."

Five other faces turned, all looking surprised, Wheeljack torn between worry and delight moved toward his lover before checking himself and shuffling backwards again.

Mirage didn't appear, but Jazz persisted. "Nothing here will hurt you," he said softly as he crossed the room. Cautiously he wrapped an arm around Mirage's waist, no easy task when he couldn't really see where he was putting his hands. "You gotta see this 'Raj," he said excitedly, "I can't quite believe it myself."

For a moment Jazz seemed to be stood alone beside the cots, but then Mirage materialised. His facial expression was one of sheer bewilderment as he optics flickered between Jazz, Prowl and the two tiny mechs. "Dead mechs can't make sparklings," he said softly, and the fog of confusion and fear that had clouded his processor for so long lifted in an instant. "Wheeljack," he called.

The engineer was at his side so quickly that Jazz wondered if his friend had been taking lessons from Blurr. Jazz backed away silently.

Tenderly Wheeljack ran his fingers down his lover's cheek, he had waited for weeks to make contact with Mirage. It had felt like an eternity.

"I've been such a fool," Mirage whispered, "can you forgive me?"

"I'll forgive you anything if it means that I get to see you smile again," Wheeljack answered sincerely.

Mirage's slightly shy smile set Wheeljack's spark aglow. He retracted his face-mask, bent his neck a little and dropped a kiss onto his lover's waiting lips.

"I love you," Mirage whispered as they pulled apart. "I couldn't believe that I'd been lucky enough to get you back after I thought I'd lost you forever."

"Neither of us believed in miracles," Wheeljack reminded him. "We'd both seen too much, lost too much."

Mirage nodded. His battle with his barely controlled emotions left him unable to speak, and struggling to stand. He buried his face in Wheeljack's strong shoulders and tried to hide from the others. He knew that they were his friends, but hiding had always been part of his nature.

"I think that's enough for now," Wheeljack said gently, "Let's go."

Mirage didn't raise his head, but he didn't protest either so Wheeljack scooped him up, flashed a warm, grateful smile at Jazz and walked out.

"Okay," Ratchet said once they were gone, "That had better be the last of the excitement for tonight. Everyone who isn't monochromatic, get out."

Sideswipe shot him a smile. "How long have you been waiting to say that?" he teased his lover as they headed for the door.

"Does that include me?" Bluestreak asked Jazz.

"I'd be happy if you stayed," Jazz grinned. "I'm feeling a little out numbered at the moment, and Prowl's going out for a while yet."

"He'll bounce back soon enough," the younger mech assured him. "Carrying is hard work but it doesn't do any harm." Jazz didn't meet the younger mechs optics and Bluestreak caught him by the shoulder as he started to turn away. "What's wrong Jazz?"

"It could be a long time before I find that out for myself, maybe never. Ratchet's been doing some tests. Losing Prowl, and breaking the bond damaged my spark. It's not something that will harm me, but the chances of me carrying are... well, Ratch hasn't been able to give me an answer."

Bluestreak pulled Jazz into a gentle embrace.

"Now that the twins are here it seems like a foolish thing to be sad about," Jazz said as he fought for control of his emotions. _I need Prowl,_ he thought, _I've become too reliant on his help to keep myself calm._

"Take it easy Jazz," Bluestreak advised. "Let's focus on the present, shall we? You still haven't told me what you're going to call my brothers."

Jazz glanced over to the two recharging sparklings, and managed a small but genuine smile. "Prowl and I have talked about names, but we haven't made any decisions yet."

"Sunny and I didn't know what we were going to call Skydart either," Bluestreak admitted. "We liked the idea that dart is another word for streak, but it didn't come together until after the separation so don't worry."

"A blue sky and sun light; the beginnings of a perfect day," Jazz said with a grin. "I hadn't realised that until now."

"I don't think anyone else has either," Bluestreak told him. "Get some rest Jazz, I'll watch over the sparks for you."

"Thank you," Jazz said gratefully. He was emotionally exhausted, but in the best possible way, although he wasn't as tired as Prowl. "I asked too much of you again didn't I babe? I don't know why you put up with me sometimes," he said quietly, talking more to himself than anyone else.

"He'll do anything for you," Bluestreak supplied without looking round, "you've always been his reason."

Jazz knew without question that Bluestreak was right, Prowl had told him as much often enough, it was just that Jazz needed to hear it. The words repeated themselves in his processor, forming themselves into an idea as he drifted into recharge.

* * *

The events of the night before seemed to have left everyone exhausted, so for the first time since they had all started sharing quarters Sunstreaker was the first one to rise, although this was more to do with the steady chirping of his sparklings than his choice, and with Bluestreak still recharging soundly beside him he forced himself to move.

"Okay, okay, daddy's coming," he said in the soft, playful voice that was for his offspring alone. "Hey there babies, didn't anyone tell you that the grown-ups had a late night last night?"

Starlight looked up at him with her intelligent, curious optics, while her brother made a chirp that sounded suspiciously like a demand for his breakfast.

"I guess not," the golden twin said cheerfully as he scooped them both up, he carried them into the main rooms of the suite. He placed Skydart in his specially designed chair and settled Starlight on the edge of the work bench so that she could watch as he set about getting their morning energon. With that done, and his own hastily drunk he started getting the rations ready for the rest of the mechs playfully counting them off on his daughter's fingers. "Okay, so that's daddy, grandpa Jazz, grandpa Prowl, my lazy brother and the reason why he's still in bed, Wheeljack and... who'd I forget?" he asked, although he hadn't really.

"'Raj!" Starlight said delightedly, although they'd only met a few times the little femme seemed to have a soft spot for the blue and white mech.

"That's my cleaver girl," Sunstreaker praised her. He poured out the final serving, and settled himself against the counter to await the rest of his family.

He wasn't surprised that Bluestreak was the first to join him, the younger mechs seemingly boundless energy was one of the many reasons that Sunstreaker adored his bond-mate, and they shared a few quiet, tender moments before Ratchet and Sideswipe joined them.

"That isn't what I need to see first thing in the morning Sunny," Sideswipe scolded his brother fondly, although he'd only interrupted a hug.

"Doesn't stop you enjoying it at night thought, does it?" Sunstreaker shot back, and he watched as Bluestreak and Ratchet exchanged a slightly embarrassed look, they were still only just starting to understand what being bonded to twins really meant.

"Morning all," Wheeljack greeted them as he and Mirage entered the room together. Bluestreak and Ratchet greeted them back a little more enthusiastically than was necessary. Sunstreaker supposed that they were grateful for the distraction.

Soon they were all either sat on the counter or leaning against it as the drank their energon, and they were all aware that this was the first time that Mirage had ever done this. He seemed relaxed, happy and determined to keep close to Wheeljack, and none of them could blame him for that, although they were all wondering just how complete the former spy's recovery was, except for Starlight who just seemed happy to have her playmate with her.

It was Ratchet who eventually broached the subject. "So," he said giving Wheeljack a level look, "how are you?"

"You mean how are _we_?" Mirage corrected him as he carefully removed Starlight from his shoulder for the second time. "I think we're doing quite well now that I've stopped being stupid."

"You weren't being stupid," Wheeljack said quickly, and there was something in his tone that told the others that he had made such protests before. "You went to the Pit and back, and they all know why you've had such a hard time, although I hope that none of them will ever understand it completely."

Mirage nodded agreeably and snuggled into Wheeljack a little more, although his embrace was hampered slightly by Starlight. Sunstreaker stepped forward to remove her but Wheeljack held up a hand to stop him. "She's helped us more than she'll ever know, let her fuss 'Raj if that's what she wants."

"She'll have him all to herself if you're not careful," Bluestreak warned.

"Never," Mirage and Wheeljack said together, then they looked at each other and grinned.

"Nothing is ever going to come between me and my bond-mate again," Mirage said seriously, and Wheeljack rewarded his words with a tender kiss.

"Good to hear," Jazz put in as he joined them with both sparklings in his arms and Prowl at his side.

Bluestreak was at Prowl's side in an instant, and the black and white mech gave him a grateful smile as he leant into him.

"How are you feeling?" the younger mech asked.

"Weary," Prowl answered honestly, "but that's an improvement on the last few days."

"So long as you remember to take it easy for a while you'll be fine soon enough," Ratchet put in.

"He will," Bluestreak and Jazz said together, and they shared a grin. Prowl nodded in submission, and let Bluestreak help him to a nearby chair.

"Do my brothers have names yet?" Bluestreak asked, once he was sure that Prowl was comfortable.

"They do," Prowl answered. "You said something to Jazz that got him thinking last night, and when he told me this morning I thought it was perfect."

Bluestreak looked a little puzzled and turned to Jazz, who was practically bouncing with impatience.

"Gentlemechs," Jazz began in a tone that Mirage would have been pound of. "My Lady," he added, with a nod to Starlight, "it is my great pleasure to introduce our sons," he paused again to grin at Prowl. "This one is Rhythm," he raised the sparkling a little, "and his twin is Reason."

Bluestreak was the first one to catch on to what the names meant, having known the words as the ones Jazz and Prowl used to describe each other for most of his life, and he was delighted to have been the one who had made Jazz think of those words as names. He rushed to embrace both the older mechs and take another look at his adopted brothers.

After him the others moved to join the happy moment, greeting the new twins and congratulating their creators. Eventually the fuss died down, some of the mechs went off to go about their days, and Bluestreak took his brothers, and his own sparklings out onto the balcony for some fresh air and to give Jazz and Prowl a few minutes to themselves.

As the door closed behind the grey mech Jazz settled himself down into Prowl's arms, and cycled his vents in satisfaction. "I love you," he whispered simply, and he allowed his happiness to flow freely through their bond. As much as he already loved his newly-sparked sons he needed a moment of quiet time with Prowl before the emotions became overwhelming.

"I love you too, my Jazz," Prowl responded as he returned the feelings. He was impossibly content, and incredibly grateful for the life that he had returned to. He kissed his bond-mate playfully between his optics, an act that still held a pleasurable novelty after the vorns of Jazz's visor, and settled down to enjoy the feeling of his lover in his arms, and the giggles he could just hear from the balcony.

A/n: I can only apologise for how long it's taken me to get this chapter up, to be honest it probably would have taken me even longer if it hadn't been for EnmityRose and Silveriss both posting late reviews in the last few weeks, which gave me a bit of a kick in the aft, so thank you very much to them.

One more chapter to go!

Thanks for reading, FB.


	15. Chapter 15

**Epilogue**

At the sound of laughter Bluestreak looked up; it was a common sound in the square of small houses that the young mech and his family had called home for the last eight years, but he always took the time to acknowledge it. Years of war, chaos and sorrow had left him deeply appreciative of happier times.

In this case it was Sunstreaker laughing, he and Sideswipe were playing basketball to entertain the small group of sparklings on the sidelines, and apparently Sideswipe had just missed a shot, rather spectacularly if the amusement that simmered through the bond was anything to go by.

Bluestreak gave his lover a playful smile and returned to his task. He didn't really think of it as work; it was one of his simple pleasures. The warm summer evening meant they could all take their energon together at a long table that ran along one side of their courtyard, which also contained a garden and a playground.

In Bluestreak's opinion it was paradise; an oasis of normal life in the shadow of the extraordinary Metroplex, but separate. No thrilling technological advances were made there and the scientists never visited, apart from Chip, and he meant a lot more to the Autobots than just his job, but Bluestreak still considered his home a marvel.

He moved further down the table setting places with care as he went; a cube for each mech or sparkling, smaller cubes of high-grade for Mirage, Wheeljack and Ratchet, portions of energon goodies for each of the sparks and a few for Jazz, which he already knew that Sideswipe would try to steal, but would never get close to.

As he moved he became aware of changes in the bond, concern, anger and sadness pricked at his own emotional sub-routines. He paused to analyse them, they weren't Sunstreaker's feelings, they were too distant, and as his worry started to mirror what he felt from the twins he realised that most of what he could feel must be coming from Ratchet, which left him with one question, why?

Before he could get any further the door to Ratchet and Sideswipe's home opened and two black and white mechs stepped quickly out into the sunlight. The young mech smiled at them, but neither of them looked around. They seemed completely absorbed in each other. Prowl's protective stance and Jazz's rather nervous, possibly even scared appearance worried the young mech more and he quickly crossed the quad, the twins caught up with him before he reached Prowl and Jazz, but Sideswipe only paused to give them a half-sparked smile before he slipped inside.

"What's happened?" Bluestreak asked.

Jazz shied away instantly.

"It's alright love," Prowl whispered before he raised his optics to look at the younger mechs. "Ratchet just chewed us out, especially Jazz," he explained.

"Why?" Sunstreaker demanded to know.

"I..." Jazz began but faltered. "I'm..." he tried again but didn't get much further before he pushed himself closer to Prowl. "I can't say it," he whispered.

"You can," Prowl said calmingly. "You've been waiting a long time to say this. I know Ratchet wasn't happy and I'll find out why later, but they will be thrilled."

Jazz nodded hesitantly and looked back to Bluestreak, who was almost bouncing with impatience by that time. "I'm carrying," he said with some effort.

Bluestreak's grin lit up his face, and he all but jumped in to hug the black and whites. "That's wonderful news Jazz," he beamed. "Truly wonderful, I don't know what's up with Ratchet, but we'll sort him out, and it's going to be fine."

Jazz smiled back and some of his confidence seemed to return. "Thanks Blue. I needed to hear that."

The mechs and their sparklings took their places around the table and enjoyed a pleasant evening until the sun went down and the younger generation went off to their berths. Jazz remained quiet, but smiled regularly much to the relief of his family. Ratchet, however did not join them, and Sideswipe only re-emerged to collect their energon and offer Jazz an apology on the medic's behalf.

And that was to be the way of it for the next few weeks; Ratchet was rarely seen, and when he was he still seemed withdrawn, but he and the other mechs were soon given something else to occupy their processors – something nearly as wonderful as the news of Jazz's sparkling in most opinions.

* * *

Despite the splatters of paint and scuff marks that Starlight was undoubtedly leaving on his shoulder struts, Sunstreaker was in heaven. A month earlier, just days after Jazz had announced his was carrying, Optimus Prime had commissioned him to paint a mural right around Metroplex's central courtyard as part of a huge celebration marking ten years of peace he was planning, and with most of the work done Sunstreaker knew that his work was truly something to be proud of.

The last scene was his favourite. It showed Metroplex lit by sunshine, a perfect representation of the idyllic life the Autobots had enjoyed for almost a decade. Above the city Starlight was currently painting wispy clouds and a golden sun, at his feet his son, Skydart, along with Rhythm and Reason were happily creating a riot of flowers, although at some point one of them had managed to paint a string of daisies up Sunstreaker's calf; the golden twin suspected Rhythm, but had no way to prove it.

As he worked his contentment seemed to bounce back and forth over the bonds. He wasn't quite sure where Bluestreak was, although he could have pointed out the direction easily enough, but his bond-mate was ridiculously happy, which probably meant he was helping Jazz with something to do with his soon to be separating sparkling. Sideswipe was high above him, on the other side of the courtyard, and occasionally Sunstreaker heard him calling out directions as he helped string up the miles of decorations for the up-coming festivities.

There was still a lot to do, but the Autobots and their friends had thrown themselves into the tasks, and there was no doubt in anyone's mind that the party at the end would be one to remember.

A sudden feeling of dread sent a chill through Sunstreaker's spark, and the panic that followed it closely was so intense that Sunstreaker was almost certain that he could hear his brother's cry for help across their bond.

A crash somewhere behind him confirmed Sunstreaker's worst fears. Somehow Sideswipe's jet-pack had failed. Without even looking to see who it was he was grabbing Sunstreaker caught a nearby minibot, pointed at the sparklings, snatched Starlight off his shoulder, placed her among them, turned and ran.

"Easy Sides," he said soothingly as he dropped down beside his twin. "It's alright. I've got you."

Something was wrong though, not that he would say so, or even know how to define it. The sensation that came through the bond wasn't like anything that he had felt before. It was a strange, sickly flicker, but Sunstreaker couldn't associate it with Sideswipe. Regardless, he reached through the bond; comforting, fortifying, and encouraging the unfamiliar weakness. There were a few things that even he still didn't understand about being a twin, but he also knew that he didn't have to understand the how and why, so long as it worked nothing else mattered.

Ratchet arrived, vents heaving, only a minute or so later with a stretcher and his medic-kit. "Take it easy sweet-spark," he said with uncharacteristic gentleness. "Keep calm and well have you in the med-bay as quick as we can."

In no time at all Ratchet had done exactly as he'd promised, and with Sideswipe safely on a repair berth the medic deftly started connecting him to monitors.

"Is that really necessary?" Sunstreaker asked. "I mean, it was a bad fall, and it's left a few dents but we've had worse."

"Sit down Sunstreaker," Ratchet ordered.

"It was my fault," Sideswipe moaned, "I reached down rather than lowering myself and starved the fuel-line. Such a stupid thing to do. I'm sorry."

Sunstreaker took his brother's hand and hushed him softly, but the memory of that strange flickering kept the golden twin quiet, although it was long gone and everything felt fine, except for the echo of Ratchet's worry, which kept him from relaxing. This was the first time either of them had been hurt since Sideswipe and Ratchet had bonded, but he doubted at the medic usually fretted so much over something as trivial as a few dents. He couldn't help feeling suspicious.

After a full minute of watching the monitors closely Ratchet slumped against the wall. "You're fine." he said softly, and something in his tone gave Sunstreaker the last clue he needed. Somehow he knew that the medic wasn't just talking about Sideswipe.

"You sparkless glitch!" he snarled, as a long dormant feeling of anger flared through his systems. "This is your fault. You caused this!" He lunged at Ratchet without even stopping to think about what he was doing.

"Sunny!" Sideswipe called out, but he was unable to move with any speed and Sunstreaker already had Ratchet pinned against the wall.

"Stop!" It was Bluestreak that gave the yell as he burst through the med-bay doors and started trying to get between Ratchet and his lover.

"What in the name of Primus is going on?" Prowl demanded to know as he followed Bluestreak in.

"Stay out of this," Sunstreaker growled, "this is between me and Ratchet."

"You know it doesn't work like that," Bluestreak told him firmly. "Tell me what's wrong."

"You remember how I was after Starlight's separation. I was exhausted, worse than Prowl was after he had his twins, and it took me days to get back to normal. I spoke to First Aid afterwards, he said that maybe there was something about twin sparks that made us ill-suited for being carriers, something about a weakness in sparks that have already been divided, I didn't follow all of it. He offered to study it, but I just wanted to put it behind me, and I never thought that..."

"I might end up being a carrier," Sideswipe interrupted. "I guess it seemed pretty unlikely back then, given that Ratchet was dead at the time." His tone was completely neutral, but the sorrow that lanced through the bonds was enough to effect Sunstreaker, Ratchet and Bluestreak.

"You knew what I went through better than anyone," Sunstreaker persisted, "why did you let him do this to you?"

"Because I couldn't do it for him," Ratchet murmured, "I don't know if it's because there's something wrong with me, or I'm too old, or possibly just too grumpy, but three failed attempts proved it to me."

"Ratch," Sideswipe whispered. "It's okay baby. I've been telling you for weeks that it's alright, when are you going to start listening?"

"How about now?" Ratchet offered, with a half-sparked smile. "I just didn't want to admit that there was a problem."

"I know," Sideswipe said fondly, "you never do."

Prowl stepped forward. He knew he was intruding, but he also desperately needed a few answers for himself. "Was that why you chewed Jazz out about his sparkling?" he asked Ratchet.

"It was," Ratchet admitted, "it was the day after my last attempt, bad timing and my need to be angry at something left me senseless. I know that I should have apologised, I wanted to, I did..."

"Ratchet," Prowl interrupted the babbling medic, "if there is anyone who can understand what you've been through it's Jazz. You can consider yourself forgiven. In the meantime lets concentrate on happier things. Jazz and Sideswipe will have our sparklings and our worlds will be made brighter by them."

"Their sparklings will separate within weeks of each other," Ratchet said with a touch of his usual cynicism, "I just hope that the world is ready for them."

Prowl chuckled and clapped Ratchet on the shoulder. "If it isn't, it's in for a hell of a shock." He moved away, intending to give Ratchet and Sideswipe their privacy, but in the space of a step something changed within the bond, and he started running. The constant awareness that he and Jazz had shared for over half their lives had been blocked, it was still there, but Prowl couldn't feel anything through it.

He heard the others call after him, but only Bluestreak followed. "Prowl to Wheeljack," he called over the comm, knowing that Jazz and the engineer were together. "What's happening?"

"I don't know," Wheeljack responded. "Jazz stood up to get something and doubled over. I'm trying to get him over to the med-bay."

"Be careful with him," Prowl warned. "Where are the sparklings?"

"Gears only just dropped them off, but Hound and 'Breaker were visiting and they offered to take care of them. We didn't think that they should see."

"Thank you," Prowl said gratefully. "I'll be with you soon."

They met about halfway between the city and their small community. Jazz was hanging limply between Wheeljack and Mirage and looking terrible, but Prowl was still relieved to see him. "What's wrong love?" he asked softly.

Jazz didn't answer and refused to look him in the optics, which worried Prowl further, but the need to move things along overrode everything else and he changed tactics. "You're doing really well, baby," Prowl encouraged him. "Now let's get you to the med-bay."

Jazz shook his head weakly.

"You have to dear-spark, we need to know what's happening to you," Prowl insisted, and he gently scooped Jazz into his arms. "At least you're letting me help you. A year ago you would have taken my head off if I'd tried this. I'm proud of you."

"He wouldn't really, would he?" Bluestreak asked.

"Well, maybe not my head," Prowl admitted. "Being his bond-mate does give me certain privileges, but I still would have had a fight on my hands, if I'd tried to get him to go somewhere that he didn't want to go while he's in this state. Mirage and Wheeljack wouldn't have gotten near him."

"Wheeljack has experience with approaching mechs who are scared and don't want to be touched," Mirage said quietly. "He and I have been through similar moments of fear over-riding normal reactions. We both know that Jazz can lash out when he's frightened, and what he's capable of."

"I guess you know better than anyone what Jazz has been through," Prowl said sympathetically. "He never told me more than I made him, and I didn't have the spark to force him to relive the horrors that the Decepticons inflicted upon him."

Bluestreak shuddered as the small group headed back to the city. Jazz had only ever mentioned such experiences to him once, but when he had it had been in a serious and haunting tone, a tone that the young mech doubted anyone other than Jazz's closest friends would believe him capable of. _We all want to live and see what the future holds, _Jazz had told him, _but the worst of the 'Cons can make you pray for an end to it all. They can strip away hope, and burn out dreams. It's the worst way to die, but no one wants to live through it either._

Once Jazz was safely on the med-bay berth Prowl sat down on the edge of it and pulled his lover close. "C'mon Jazz," he whispered lovingly, "I can help you, but you have to let me in."

Once again Jazz shook his head resolutely and refused to meet Prowl's optics.

"He's in pain Prowl," Ratchet put in, "and that's the one thing he'll never willingly share with you."

"Can you do anything for him?" Prowl asked.

"I've got this," the medic said as he held up what looked like a thick metal collar. "It's designed to block out pain and inhibit movement, but I don't know how well it will help Jazz. We are our sparks, they are the very core of our beings..."

"Do it," Prowl interrupted him as he felt Jazz tense in his arms, if it was anyone else on the berth they would have been screaming, but the former Special Ops mech rarely, if ever, cried out in pain.

With the inhibitor in place Jazz seemed to become a little more lucid. His optics searched every inch of the room before finally meeting Prowl's. "I'm sorry," he said simply.

"It's fine, my love," Prowl assured him. "Will you let the guards down on the bond now?"

Jazz nodded and Prowl felt a wave of relief flood through him before Jazz's fear really made itself known, but even with his bond-mate in his current emotional state Prowl still felt as it he was coming back to life. He concentrated on reassuring his lover and slowly felt Jazz relax a little. Then he nodded for Ratchet to approach again.

Bluestreak followed the medic, and climbed onto the berth to support Jazz in the same way that he had held Prowl up when he had been going through his own separation.

Deftly Ratchet opened the panel that protected Jazz's spark and looked inside. "It's definitely time," he announced before he softened his tone, "it's going to be fine Jazz, just try to relax."

"He's better than he was," Prowl informed the medic. "Believe it or not."

Ratchet shot him a quick smile and hurried off to collect everything he would need for the imminent separation. Wheeljack took his place at Jazz's bedside, he was determined that one of them would be a calming influence for Jazz's sake, although deep down he was as excited as the rest of them, with the possible exception of Bluestreak who was practically bouncing as he sat behind Jazz.

Ratchet returned and Wheeljack moved out of his way, but he kept his hand on Jazz's shoulder.

"Okay," Ratchet muttered. "Here we go. Three, two, one..."

Everyone in the room, apart from the medic, seemed to freeze as a small orb of pale blue light came away from Jazz's spark. It was a hypnotic thing to watch and quite beautiful.

"Well done Jazz," Ratchet said with a smile. "I'll be right back." He turned away began uniting the new spark with it's frame.

Prowl pulled Jazz close to him, and his lover immediately buried his face in Prowl's shoulder. "It's alright Jazz," he said soothingly, "you did it."

"I know," Jazz whispered, "but I don't quite believe it."

"Easy Jazz," Wheeljack said gently, "keep your revs down."

Prowl gave Wheeljack a grateful look. He'd recognised the engineer's deliberately calm manner as soon as he had taken up his position beside Jazz's berth, and been incredibly thankful for it as his own excitement and Bluestreak's natural enthusiasm had made it difficult for them to help. The engineer smiled back and removed the inhibitor slowly, watching Jazz carefully to see how he reacted and sharing Prowl's relief that the separation had not left any lingering effects.

"There's someone here that wants to meet you," Ratchet announced, and he deftly handed the tiny femme back to her creator.

Jazz's optics met his daughter's and he knew instantly that the difficulties of the separation were meaningless, the pain and fear he had experienced were rendered obsolete by the warm, unconditional love he felt for her. "Hey, baby girl," he cooed softly. "Welcome to the world." He sank back against Bluestreak and let his emotions flow freely across the bond so that they didn't overwhelm him. Prowl wrapped his arms around everyone the berth and grinned broadly.

Seeing that their work was done Ratchet collected Wheeljack and left the little family to it. He flopped down next to Sideswipe. "Well," he said with a wry smile, "that's your lesson on how not to do it, are you okay?"

Sideswipe nodded without taking his optics from Jazz and the tiny femme in his arms. "It seems to me that the separation itself doesn't matter, it's just a moment in time, and when it's done there's a sparkling and a whole lifetime of wonderful experiences to look forward to."

"Wise words Sides," Jazz agreed cheerfully.

"Hey, I may not be among the great thinkers of our time, or the deepest of mechs, but I defy anyone to see what I am and not see the beauty in it," Sideswipe shot back.

"There is something missing from this perfect picture though," Jazz realised.

"Hound and 'Breaker are bring the sparklings down," Prowl assured him. "They won't be long."

A moment later, and almost on cue, the med-bay door opened and Rhythm and Reason peered around the frame, Jazz beckoned them over and with a little help from Prowl they scrambled onto the berth.

"That's better," Jazz grinned as he managed to get his sons into comfortable positions where they could both see their sister.

"What's her name?" Rhythm asked as he reached out and took her tiny hand in his own.

"Her name is the promise your father made me, the prayer that sustained both of us through the war, and the word gave us hope," Jazz answered him. "Her name is Peace."

"Perfect," Reason grinned, although his brother made a bit of a face at his creator's sentimentality. "And even better I now have a sister, which has to be loads better than a brother or more of my friends would have one."

Jazz chuckled, like their human friends his sons didn't quite understand why there were so few female Cybertronians, and while Jazz was happy for his creations to grow up at a rate similar to their human counterparts, he hoped that the conversations about relationships and such things was still a few years off.

"You need to rest now my love," Prowl said softly. He could sense that Jazz's thoughts were becoming even more scattered than usual and recognised that as a sure sign that his bond-mate was exhausted. "We'll be here when you come back online."

"I know I'm not dreaming," Jazz whispered. "If I was dreaming then the separation would have been easy and I wouldn't have had half of Metroplex's population watching, but I guess it's only right that they're here, we're a family after all."

Bluestreak gave his surrogate father a squeeze as he helped him to lay down. With Jazz comfortable, and the small twins removed for the berth Bluestreak turned to Prowl. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"More than," Prowl answered brightly, as he cradled his daughter for the first time. "This is one of the million moments that Jazz has given me that I will treasure forever."

"Sure is," Bluestreak agreed. "Just let me know when I can hold my little sister."

* * *

Two weeks later the celebration of peace began, and a festival atmosphere seemed to rise over Metroplex. Everyone was on a high, and none more so than Jazz. Despite the strains of Peace's separation he had thrown himself into the preparations for the event, and not just behind the scenes; one of the high-lights of the week was a concert that he and Blaster were to host.

The week went amazingly well. Humans travelled from all over the planet to see the Autobots and the wonders their city held. The Autobots, for the most part, enjoyed themselves immensely while showing off their technologies, and their specialities. The scientists took centre-stage; Perceptor, Skyfire and Wheeljack, who usually kept to themselves, were suddenly world news, and much to the amusement of Wheeljack's friends nearly every photograph of the engineer also featured a flash of blue caused by Mirage slipping out of shot.

There were complications of course. No one really wanted the world news poking around in their private lives, but the press was fascinated by the scores of sparklings that lived in the city, and the question 'where did they all come from?' soon became tiresome.

At one interview in particular Prowl, who was supposed to be talking about how the Autobots were helping in the world's peacekeeping negotiations, got so frustrated with a reporter who was determined to get more information about the city's younger inhabitants, and Jazz who was teasing him through their bond, had he coolly ordered his lover to escort the journalist from the room. He couldn't have cared less about the reporter, but he did make it up to Jazz later.

On the whole though the week was a huge success, and most of the Autobots agreed that they didn't feel too much like a tourist attraction, but the big event for them was after most of the humans had returned to their homes.

Only a few close friends were invited to the private party so there was no need to worry about personal moments being splashed across the front pages. No speeches were given, even Optimus Prime relaxed completely and spent most of the evening talking with friends or dancing with Elita One.

Jazz took the stage to a roar of the crowd and the flash of fireworks. He was in his element, and any trace of nervousness he had felt soon disappeared. Prowl watched him from a table just the other side of the dance floor. His optics occasionally flickered between Jazz and the nearby sparklings; Starlight and Rhythm were imitating the dancers and laughing, Skydart and Reason were sat on the table either watching the show or playing a game that made no sense to anyone but themselves, while Peace's optics dreamily watched Jazz as she lay in Prowl's arms.

Bluestreak and Sunstreaker, Wheeljack and Mirage were all dancing and smiling without a care in the world, while Ratchet and Sideswipe sat with Prowl and enjoyed the company of anyone who stopped by, but Sideswipe looked tired, the separation of his sparkling was only a few days away, the strain of it was showing, and he had refused to let Ratchet go beyond arms reach for over a week, but he was happy.

Eventually Bluestreak and Sunstreaker returned to the table. Sunstreaker flopped down next to his twin and grinned. "When we were younglings we would have given anything to be at a show like this," he reminded his brother.

Bluestreak took Peace from Prowl with a fond smile, the black and white returned it, stood up and moved away.

"So we came back here to babysit?" Sunstreaker asked.

"It's just for a few minutes Sunny," Bluestreak said disarmingly. "Now hush, I want to watch this." Sunstreaker gave his lover a slightly puzzled look, but he subsided and sat back to lean against his twin.

Bluestreak watched keenly as Prowl took an unobtrusive position against a column, close to the dance-floor. The younger mech had seen him do the same thing countless times, even Prowl's stance was the same as it had always been, casual awareness was how Bluestreak defined it. Prowl looked completely relaxed, but Bluestreak knew for a fact that Prowl wasn't missing a thing. Bluestreak smiled, it had been far too long since his had seen his two oldest friends play this game.

From the stage Jazz watched Prowl move, and smiled to himself. He'd missed every moment of performing; from the buzz of stepping out to applause to the effect that watching him had on Prowl. His lover had always enjoyed watching him, even if he was just walking into a room, but on stage was special, it was as if Prowl thought that the show was only for him.

He finished the song and bowed low. "My friends, it has been my honour to entertain you this evening, and a true pleasure, but now it's time for me to leave you in Blaster's capable hands."

The audience made noises of disappointment, but applauded him heartily as he hopped lightly off the stage and crossed the dance-floor without taking his optics off Prowl. He barely noticed the crowd, except for the way it parted as he walked. He didn't rush, he wanted to savour the moment of anticipation, and to feel the effect that his swagger had on his lover.

Prowl didn't move until Jazz was within arms reach, Jazz extended a hand, took Prowl's and guided him gracefully onto the dance-floor.

"Give the mechs some room guys, you've had your turn," Blaster instructed the rest of the crowd. "They've been waiting all night for this."

"More like a lifetime," Prowl whispered, "but our waiting is over, and our future, the lives we dreamed of are ours."

Jazz spun him around without responding, but the joy that Prowl could feel through their bond was all he needed, and was probably enough to render Jazz speechless anyway. Those silences were the last remnants of the traumas that Jazz had suffered during the was, they were becoming briefer and less common. Prowl knew that this one, like the others of the last few years, was caused by extreme circumstances, and now that they had more or less settled down into a normal life those moments would become few and far between.

"I love you," Prowl whispered as he moved closer and rested his head on Jazz shoulder.

"_I love you too,"_ Jazz sent through their bond, and even after all their time together Prowl still felt those words light up his life like a sunrise; beautiful, glorious, and never quite the same twice.

Back at their table Bluestreak grinned as he watched the two black and whites. He leant back against his own lover, let the contentment he felt flow across his own bond, felt the echoes of his own emotions bounce back from Sunstreaker, and more distantly, Sideswipe and Ratchet.

"Take a good look kids," he told the sparklings that surrounded him. "It's from watching moments like this that I learned what real love was, one day you'll have to decide whether or not you want that for yourselves."

"I'm glad you did," Sunstreaker whispered in his lover's audio. "The romantic in you is one of the many things I love."

"How could I not with those two around?" Bluestreak asked seriously. "But it's not just those them that I'm grateful to have in my life; it's all of you. You've all showed me that there are days that you just get through anyway you can, good days, bad days, ones that change your world completely, others that knock you sideways, and then there are the ones that you will treasure your whole life, but the important thing is that we live through them together. I guess what I'm trying to say is thank you, all off you, my life wouldn't be worth much without you in it."

"We love you too Blue," Sunstreaker said softly. Ratchet and Sideswipe echoed the golden twins words, and they all moved a little closer. All of them, from the oldest and most cynical of medics to the youngest of sparklings, and the crowd beyond, watched as two mechs danced.

* * *

Author's note – and I guess we'd better leave them there. I hate endings, my fascination has always been beginnings and ends, the snapshots of normal life before and after everything else happens, but this does have to end because without an ending it is impossible to start anew.

This whole story arc has taken up so much; I count eight notebooks, dozens of pens, two computers, most of my waking hours, some of my sleeping ones, a little over five years and somewhere around 220,000 words, but I'll beg your indulgence for just a little longer.

As I understand it from my stats page my readers come from around the world and I just want to say thank you very much, muchas gracias, merci beaucoup, vielen dank, grazie mille, and dziekuje bardzo, (hope I spelled them all something like right) I'm out of languages but not out of gratitude. Some of you have been with me for the beginning, some have started reading my stories recently, but you've all made writing this worthwhile and kept me going, comments have lifted me up, questions have challenged me and it's been wonderful.

There are too many people for me to thank personally, but firstly I'd like to thank everyone who asked me a question, there are quite a few of you and I can only hope that somewhere in these pages I have given you an answer. Secondly to Silveriss who as far as I can tell has been reading my stories from the start, five years is a long time, and I know that you are one of those who has challenged me about some things, and I love that, and lastly, but by no means least Daebereth, who gave up a lot of her time to edit some of my stories for me, it's been a while babe, but you helped me so much, thank you.

Well, I guess that's it. I do have another story that I will start posting soon, pretty much the same cast, different plot and I look forward to sharing it with you. Until then, thanks again and take care. Love F.B.


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